Book Fair 35

November 17, 2018

 

Suzannah and Billy

Book Fair 35

Since 1984, the campus of Miami Dade College in downtown Miami has been home to one of the biggest and in many people’s opinion including my own, best book events in the country. From its humble beginnings it has grown into a literary behemoth that each year brings some 500 or so of the best and brightest writers and authors to Miami to present about their work over the course of a week in November culminating in the massive and wonderful street fair, which talks place the weekend prior to Thanksgiving.

 

It is one of my favorite events of the year, of any type and for most of the 27 years that I have lived in South Florida, I have attended missing only a couple of random years. This year, I once again flew directly from Las Vegas in to Miami on the Friday of the street fair and checked in to the Miami Bayfront Holiday Inn located on the downtown campus of MDC and right on the street fair location.

Stephanie and Kathy 

Kathy drove up and met me on Saturday morning before the start of the book fair activities. On Friday night, she had attended the first sold out concert at the Key West Amphitheatre, the first of a two night set from the Avett Brothers. Kathy and our friend Darci attended the show and really enjoyed their performance. We had seen them earlier this past spring at the Innings Festival and had loved them then and will be seeing them again next March at the Gasparilla Music Festival in Tampa. 

The Avett Brothers 

Jamie and her daughter with Carl Hiaasen

The Miami Book fair is more to us than just another book festival, it is always a gathering of friends as there are always a number of people who drive up from Key West like we do and this year proved no exception as our friends Andy and Stephanie came up along with friends Jamie and Andy and their entire family. We also run in to many other friends on sight as some are working for the fair such as our friends Mitchell, Raquel and Laura from Books and Books. There are also invariably friends and authors who we have met through our association with the Key West Literary Seminar.

 

Michael Ondaatje

Poet Billy Collins and his lovely partner Suzannah fall in to that category as Billy was on hand for a presentation with fellow Poet Laureate of the United States, Juan Felipe Herrera on Sunday afternoon. It was great running in to them as always. 

 

The Book Fair is a massive undertaking with presentations going on all day in multiple venues making difficult choices the rule of the day as we each decided which authors we would go and see. We both started out at the reading by 80s actress and star of the famed 80s sitcom “Family Ties”, Justine Bateman who has just completed a book that looks at the nature of Fame. 

Michael and Justine Bateman 

Kwame Alexander, Clydette DeGroot and Jacqueline Woodson

After that, we split up with Kathy and I attending different sessions but between us we saw presentations from a diverse selection of writers including Michael Ondaatje, Carl Hiaassen, Charles Frazier, Peter Sagal, Adam Gopnik, John Grisham, Brad Meltzer, Jonathan Ames, Kwame Alexander and Jacqueline Woodson. Perhaps the most anticipated and highlight of the day was the appearance of US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayer who gave a rousing performance in the main Chapman Hall and then stayed around afterwards to sign every single book that the massive crowd wanted signed, much to the chagrin of the Secret Service agents who flittered around nervously through the entire thing.

Sonia Sotomayer 

Ron Stallworth

I caught a great reading from author Ron Stallworth, whose book “Black Klansman” was recently made into a movie by filmmaker Spike Lee, I also caught an interesting panel about the future of the NFL featuring former NFL star and now activist author, Etan Thomas that was fascinating. 

Eton Thomas

 

In addition to the author sessions, there is continuous entertainment on hand including many of Miami’s favorite local bands, this year I caught sets from the Remyz, Jahfe, the Combat Hippies and even Key West’s own favorites Patrick and the Swayzees, who performed a rocking and well received set to close out the day on the Porch stage.

Les from Patrick and the Swayzees

 

Kwame Alexander

There is also an amazing children’s area that has continuous entertainment, readings, games, activities and food for all the kids who attend and there are always a ton of them. It is a great event to bring kids of all ages and it is never too early to introduce young people to the power and importance of reading, something that seems to be going by the wayside these days.