The Book and Author Breakfast

Ah, now for Saturday. As I mentioned, part of the CAMEX trade show festivities is a book and author breakfast. This year's event included five very talented writers: Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love; Gary Moore, author of Playing With the Enemy; Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food; Jim Sheeler, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author of The Final Salute; and Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

We met up with all five authors in the lobby of the hotel, where I pestered a couple for autographs and photos:

And then we walked over to the convention center for the event. Breakfast was served before the authors began speaking and Gary Moore took that opportunity to "work the crowd." He was asked if he was running for office or something and he replied that "no, [he was] the least known author of the bunch," so he was out building a fan base before they got started.

Elizabeth Gilbert led the speakers and was very funny, a definite hit with the audience. She shared her story of how, after publishing Eat, Pray, Love, people were asking her for relationship advice...she being the person who failed miserably in her own relationship. One fan even asked her at a book signing if she (the fan) should get a divorce.

Next up was Gary Moore. He followed Elizabeth's lead and kept the audience laughing as well. In addition, he shared a moving story of a federal judge who contacted Gary to share how Playing With the Enemy changed the way he saw himself in the mirror every day. And I think that story brought to light for a great many people the fact that they do focus on their failures and often neglect to see their greatest accomplishments.

Gary was followed by Michael Pollan who shared with the audience his story of how he came to write about food. He didn't start out writing about food, but instead found it so integrally connected that food is where he ended up. Michael also pointed out that choosing what we eat is essentially our first "voting" experience. We vote with our forks. An interesting tidbit from Michael's presentation was the fact that almost universally, everyone has the same head shake to indicate "no" and it likely comes from infancy where babies close their mouths and shake their heads to indicate they don't want to eat something.

Jim Sheeler stepped to the podium next and his topic couldn't help but leave the audience in tears. He shared slides and audio of people he followed and interviewed for his book, The Final Salute. Jim followed along with a Marine whose job it was to inform family members of the loss of their military loved ones. What an incredible tribute this young man has written in an effort to make sure people stop, look, and don't forget the sacrifices these military men and women have made for all Americans.

While the audience were drying their eyes, Michael Chabon found his way to the podium to end the program. This versatile, dynamic writer is the winner of not only a Pulitzer Prize, but also an O.Henry, a Hugo, and a Nebula Award. He shared a little about how his first work of non-fiction, Maps and Legends, came to fruition and how the proceeds from Maps and Legends are going to a great organization called 826 International. THEN he read an essay from Maps and Legends. Most of the time, an author reading his/her work results in a scary product. Not with Michael Chabon. His reading was amazing. I was enraptured and could have listened to him read for hours. Of course it helped that the essay was phenomenal, but I think he could enthrall people reading the phone book - his voice, his energy, his charisma. Now I will hear that any time I read his work, and I will be reading quite a bit of it!

As I hope you can tell from my summary here, the event was a great success. All five authors did a tremendous job, and I for one was over the moon to have been able to experience it.

Dinner with the Authors

So, I've returned from my work trip to Anaheim, California. For those that don't know, I attended the National Association of College Stores (NACS) yearly trade show convention, CAMEX this past weekend. Each year as part of this convention, we host a "Book and Author Breakfast." This is my first year attending with NACS, so my first year at the convention.

I'm not sure how I got so lucky as to find a job that not only provided me with a trip to Southern California but also enabled me to meet some fantastic writers. I feel blessed. I was also feeling a little warmer since the temperatures there were in the 60s!

I mentioned a short while back that I would be attending the Friday night dinner with our guest speaking authors. Those authors included Gary Moore who wrote Playing With the Enemy; Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote Eat, Pray, Love; Michael Pollan who wrote In Defense of Food; Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jim Sheeler who wrote The Final Salute, and Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon who most recently published The Yiddish Policeman's Union and Maps and Legends. Unfortunately, Michael Chabon wasn't able to join us for dinner, but all four other authors were present as was the editor-in-chief of Shelf Awareness, John Mutter, several Penguin Books representatives, and a handful of NACS book seller members.


At the dinner, I had the pleasure of also meeting Gary Moore's wife, Arlene, and his son Toby. Toby, incidentally, will be playing the part of his grandfather in the movie version of Playing With the Enemy that is set to start filming this summer. Toby is also the reader for the audio version of Playing With the Enemy.

We walked from the Anaheim Hilton hotel to a very nice restaurant called Roy's at the Garden Walk. Along that walk, I chatted with Gary Moore and learned that he is working on two new books. The first should be published next year and is the story of a fighter pilot from World War II. Sadly, this war hero passed away recently and won't be able to see his story in print. But luckily, the story will live on thanks to Gary's efforts on the book. His second book is a fascinating story about Italian immigrants who formed a soccer team in a tiny town in Illinois and through a strange series of events, ended up playing the world champion soccer team.

The evening was magical. I thoroughly enjoyed every last minute of it. So, I have to send another special shout-out to Cindy Thompson who made it possible for me to join this shin dig on Friday night. Thanks Cindy!

Tune in tomorrow so I can share with you about all of the authors' presentations during the conference breakfast the following morning!



Pictured above: Editor-in-chief of Shelf Awareness John Mutter and author of Playing With the Enemy Gary Moore.

Playing With the Enemy - Gary Moore

Playing With the Enemy is a true story about Gary Moore's father, Warren Eugene "Gene" Moore. Gene was a boy from small-town Illinois who had an amazing talent for baseball. He was an incredible catcher, could hit the ball out of the park, and he was a born leader. As one of the youngest on his baseball team at The Lumberyard, he encouraged and motivated his older teammates to work together.

Gene didn't go unnoticed. The Brooklyn Dodgers stood up and took notice before Gene was old enough to play in their professional league. They signed him and put him in a farm team where he could hone his skills until he was old enough to be moved up. However, World War II came along and threw a wrench in THOSE plans.

This book is the story of Gene's experiences in baseball, in war, and beyond. He kept these experiences a secret from his children until the day before his unexpected death. Gary retells the story of his father's life as his father told it to him. Probably his very last gift to Gary.

Jim Morris writes the Forward to this book and he says, "Playing With the Enemy is a book about many things on many levels, but to me, it is a heartwarming story about what we do with second changes." While I agree with this, for me the book was also about the power of a love. In this case it was a love for baseball. This love has the power to bond, the power to overcome, and the power to scar.

When you connect with a book, the results are so amazing. You come away feeling changed. I had a personal connection with this book on a number of levels. The first level being my own father. He played and loved baseball. I don't think he was quite the caliber Gene Moore was, but he was being scouted by the major leagues when he was drafted for Vietnam; he also went on to play softball during his time in the Air Force.

The other level on which I connected with this book was even closer to me, personally. As a high school student one of my greatest loves was working as the team statistician. And while I still enjoy statting a good game, the love came from the team element - being a part of that - few outside the team comprehend the power. The team becomes very much like a family; no matter how far apart you are from the members of that family, a bond will always exist. And when any part of that is lost, a part of yourself is lost as well. Gary Moore illustrates that exceptionally well in this book.

Playing With the Enemy is about a LOVE of baseball. And I'm not talking about what you see in the Major Leagues. Unfortunately I think the love is lost there - players/coaches/owners/managers are too in love with themselves and with money to remember the love they had for the game. This is about a true, unadulterated love of the institution of baseball. As Gene says,

"...and that's what I love about baseball. When you step onto that field, the size of the man is determined by his heart, not his height."

When that love is present, the members of the team DO come together and form a family bond. As with any family, there's often a member that functions like the glue...keeping all the pieces together when times turn rough. Gene was that glue for his teams. I admired that quality above all else in him. Every team needs a Gene Moore. What's more, Sesser, Illinois, needed Gene Moore. Gene was growing up at the tail end of the Depression. Sesser was a very poor town and they had very little, but Gene was able to motivate and inspire them as well as his teammates.

Playing with the Enemy is a non-fiction work written like a fiction work. I often found myself thinking, "Wow! I don't think a professional fiction writer could have come up with the likes of this man's story." Isn't it amazing how sometimes life can create irony and suspense better than our own imaginations?

Gene Moore touched the lives of many. And his inspiration continues to be passed along to others through this book. He has inspired me!