Michael Cunningham was the featured speaker at dinner. He spoke of the first book he wrote when he was seven and why stories are so essential and how the writing of a novel is mysterious and magic. All pretty enthralling. After, as he was signing his book for me, someone pointed out to him that I was a guest writer, and he turned to the bookseller and immediately bought my book and had me sign it. Quite a gracious gesture. And definitely not typical. He had no knowledge of me or my books but just wanted to lend his support. Really touching.
Tonight I got to hang out with a room full of librarians. The Illinois Library Association held their annual conference in Rosemont, and my good friends at the Palatine Public Library sponsored a table for dinner and invited me as their guest. I’m humbled by this generous gesture and most appreciative. I thought I might have to say a few words when they introduced me, but all I had to do was stand. If I was asked to say why libraries are important to me, this is what I might have said. When I was growing up, we didn’t have any libraries in the neighborhood. They never filled me with wonder or nostalgia or awe. I never gave them a thought because they were absent. Ah, but when I started my own family in Lombard, my daughter and I used to take long strolls to the library and slip through the aisles and trudge home with an armful of books. One time they sponsored a sleep-in, and we lugged our sleeping bags and spent the night, surrounded by stack after stack of those fragrant books. So yes, libraries have taken on a fondness for me that I hold dear.
Michael Cunningham was the featured speaker at dinner. He spoke of the first book he wrote when he was seven and why stories are so essential and how the writing of a novel is mysterious and magic. All pretty enthralling. After, as he was signing his book for me, someone pointed out to him that I was a guest writer, and he turned to the bookseller and immediately bought my book and had me sign it. Quite a gracious gesture. And definitely not typical. He had no knowledge of me or my books but just wanted to lend his support. Really touching.
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