Author Signings and More

"God's world is very large, a world we should always explore, to comprehend the problems of troubled people who may be hungry for what we could offer. It's like eating peanuts - if we can decide to be adventurous and generous once, it may be hard to stop!" - Jimmy Carter, Living Faith, 1996.

                                          Bath, United Kingdom, 2014 (look very closely)

We have lived here in Durham, NC for 18 years now. I remember the year because our daughter had just turned three years old, and she will soon be 21. Time sure flies - that three year old is now a junior in college. During these years I've had the opportunity to attend several author readings that were very inspiring and inspiring. The first one that I attended was held at the Regulator Bookstore on Ninth Street. I can't remember the title or the author's name, but I remember meeting in the basement of the bookstore to hear the author read selections from her book about her loss of her child. That was in 1997. The next book signing that I attended was also held at the Regulator. This time the book was a children's book, Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. That year the Durham Public Schools gave each elementary school child a hardback copy of this book, so I took my daughter to get her copy signed. I think my daughter was in First grade at the time. I guess I was subconsciously trying to influence her in the area of reading, but I never really had to do that because she does enjoy reading today. I knew that our Saturday night family trips to a restaurant and Barnes and Noble were starting to pay off! When our kids started to buy books with their own money, I knew we were headed in the right direction.

I greatly enjoyed the opportunities to see Frank McCourt, Jimmy Carter, and Rabbi Harold Kushner on a person level, because I had read several books by each of these men and I found them all to be very inspiring. I remember how I stood in line to get the autograph of Frank McCourt at Durham School of the Arts. There was a large crowd there, and after McCourt spoke, we were allowed to get his autograph. At that time, I believe he had only written Angela's Ashes (also a feature film), and 'Tis. Years later I also read his book, Teacher Man, about his years as a vocational school teacher. The fact that McCourt somehow survived his upbringing in Ireland and went on to become a teacher and an author still amazes me. He stole the money for his passage to America when he was a teenager.

I've read several books by Jimmy Carter including Living Faith, An Hour Before Daylight, and Christmas in Plains. I hadn't planned to see Carter at the Regulator but my neighbor, Maureen, said I could get in line with her to see him. In order to see Carter, you had to go to the bookstore in advance and get a number. Only about 1,000 people were allowed to enter the small, crowded bookstore that night. Carter had just come out with his book, The Hornet's Nest, so he was there to promote it. I took several copies of his books to get autographed, and that Christmas I gave my father and father-in-law one of these treasured books. We weren't allowed to shake Carter's hand (secret service were everywhere!), but we could hand an agent our books who proceeded to hand the books to Carter for autographing. I'll never forget when Carter said hi to me and added, "Thanks for coming." Wow - that meant a lot! I took a few quick pictures of Carter, and a man behind me asked if I would email him a picture. I did that the next day. Honestly, I only read a few pages of The Hornet's Nest because I found it to be terribly boring, but I give him a lot of credit for trying his hand at a historical novel. I think he should just stick to non-fiction because his life has been so amazing and world-changing.

In 2003 I had the opportunity to see Rabbi Harold Kushner at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh. My friend, Allison, and I went to hear him talk about his latest book, The Lord is My Shepherd. Kushner is probably best known for his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People (1978). This book has been translated into many different languages and has been seen at grocery-store check-outs. After Kushner spoke, I quickly walked over to his autograph table and got his autograph! I was the first person in line. In the front of my copy of The Lord is My Shepherd he wrote "Best wishes to Melissa - Harold Kushner." His books had meant a lot to me for a very long time, and I couldn't believe I was standing near a man whose theology I so greatly respected.

So...now for my next five books from my file boxes that I've had since 1984. Here goes:

1. Three Short Novels by Wendell Berry, 2002
2. The Nazi Officer's Wife by Beer, 1999
3. 1,003 Great Things About Getting Older by Birnback, 1997
4. Please Stop Laughing at Me by Blanco, 2003
5. On the Prowl by Block


I'm still reading The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street and look forward to discussing it with all of you soon. In the meantime, I'm striving to be adventurous and generous every single day. Leave me your comments on today's thoughts. Let me know what you think, what this reminds you of, etc. I'm looking forward to having some dialogue with you.

-Melissa