Today, I attended the National Book Festival for the first time. Started by former first lady, Laura Bush in 2001, the festival is hosted by the Library of Congress and extends for seven blocks on the national mall.
White tents held up by silver, metal poles accommodated thousands of readers who had come to meet their favorite authors. I heard John Grisham speak and interviewed authors from Massachusetts for my newspaper.
The highlight of my day was a one-on-one chat with author of The Giver, Lois Lowry. I think back to the fifth grade when Ms. Blake introduced us to the Newbery Medal-winning book and recommended we read it. I remember being a wide-eyed nine-year-old who went to the school library and checked out the book from Ms. Tafoya, the librarian. Ask my nine-year-old self if I thought I would be interviewing the author one day? My answer would have been in the negative.
Books will always be special. Writers and love make the world go round.
1 comment:
Let me rephrase that a little: words and love make the world go round.
Writers come and go, and many of them aren't worth remembering except for the words they leave behind.
The words are it. The words are so much bigger than their creator. It's scarily wonderful.
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