The 15th Annual booksALIVE Festival of Reading
booksALIVE had the perfect keynote speaker this year, accomplished author Pat Conroy, who has lived most of his books. The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, My Losing Season and his newest novel, The Death of Santini, are all largely autobiographical. The audience was spellbound, laughing away.
“We all write, not because of talent, but because of an extraordinary need that can never be filled, no matter what,” Conroy told a packed luncheon of nearly 285 people at the Feb. 1 booksAlive. “We are bottomless pits. There can never be enough praise. There can never be enough honors. There can never be enough money. There can never be enough fame. So we’re desperate, unhappy people.”
Living Words
This year’s booksALIVE had the highest attendance of any in the book festival’s 15-year history. Tickets for the Conroy luncheon sold out in ten days. That hadn’t happened since the festival’s first year, when the keynote speaker was Judy Bloom.
Bettina Mead, Marketing Director at Northwest Florida Regional Library System, has been chair or co-chair of the booksALIVE event for 13 of the festival’s years. Pat Conroy and his family came know former Panama City Mayor Jerry Clemons through his daughter, a publicist in the literary world. When it came time to land a keynote speaker, Mead said everything just fell into place. She said Conroy’s wife and sister had attended the book fair in years past and it seemed that Pat Conroy wanted to be a part of the 15th Anniversary. “It seemed to be a natural progression,” Mead said. Two years ago, the book fair moved to FSU-PC to take advantage of larger accommodations. They needed every foot for the Conroy crowd. booksALIVE began as a way to fill a need.” There isn’t a free book festival of its kind from Jacksonville, Florida to Jackson, Miss,” Bettina Mead says. The one-day event features four sets of classes, the luncheon and book signings. The authors are invited from out of the area and give presentations during the morning sessions to aspiring writers and avid readers. The festival benefits from a strong local showing and a growing attendance from visitors and winter residents.
“I can’t tell you how many times I hear from people that booksALIVE is the best day of their year,” Mead said, smiling. Her goal in participating in the event every year is to promote the Bay County Library, encourage reading and expose readers to different genres. Aspiring writers, including Mead, often come away from the event with a renewed desire to put pen to paper.
“I am a library lover,” she said. “I love our library and I try to promote our library, promote reading and what the library brings to our community.” With the number of library cards rising and attendance at the book fair increasing, she said, she expects booksALIVE to continue on well into the future.
Back to Pat
On this day at the luncheon, with 285 people being as quiet as possible because Pat Conroy speaks rather quietly, Conroy talks about his family and writing in short snippets about his life. A wry smile rarely left his face. Works of literature, he said, often sprout from insanity. He told the story of being approached at a book signing by a cocky, handsome young man who told him: “I read your book and Pat, let’s face it, your family was absolutely nuts.” Pat Conroy recalls responding, “Pal, I have no problem admitting it, at all. Tell me about your family. How far do I have to go before I hit the first crazy in your family? Mom? Dad? Aunt? Uncle? Brother? Sister? Do I have to go to cousins? Usually I don’t have to dig that far, unless someone is in total denial.” I think all literature can come from some variation of that.”
Irving Stone once recommended to Pat that he write about the human spirit – the secret to Stone’s success. Conroy writes more about the human condition. “This book,” he said, referring to The Death of Santini, “was the hardest book I’ve ever had to write because I had to go back and live with dad again.”
Conroy reflected on the time when his father was dying and children decided to work together to take care of him in his last days. Conroy recalled how he came to his father’s house one day to find his sister screaming at her dad, begging him to tell her that he loved her and was proud of her. Conroy took his sister aside and told her that their father was incapable of sharing those feelings and that he himself never received a word of encouragement or pride from his father. She was able to compose herself and they returned to their father’s bedroom.
With an amused voice Conroy recounts “At that moment, my redneck brother-in-law, Bobby Joe, walks into the room. Bobby Joe is coming in, polishing a wrench or whatever rednecks do. He comes in and says, ‘Hey old man, how you feeling?’ Dad looked up and in a tiny, weakened, un-Santini insect voice says, ‘I love ya Bobby Joe. I’m proud of ya Bobby Joe.’” Conroy has the entire room laughing and goes on “I swear my sister’s hands were wrapping around my father’s neck.”
Conroy told those in the crowd that he was chosen to write about his family, despite the real pain that was so prevalent in his childhood. “Here is what I have loved about writing, what you should cherish about writers: they sit down, they tell the stories that mean something to the world, they tell the stories they know will change the world, they tell the stories that changed them when they were kids and they’re told through the music of the English language.”
His family has also kept him well- grounded even after his success. Conroy recalls “My Aunt Helen calls me after every book, crying, ’I just read your new book,’” which Conroy usually answers with “How did you like it?” And Aunt Helen answers with ‘It’s garbage, garbage.’ Conroy again: “How far did you make it?” Aunt Helen’s answer: “Page 4.”
How Do You Follow That? “Who is going to be our next keynote speaker, Bettina?” Anne Dick, president of the Bay County Library Association, asked shortly after the conclusion of this year’s event. “The day after booksALIVE we start thinking about who we want next.”
It’s not an easy decision. booksALIVE is the only fundraiser for the Bay County Public Library. It generates money through sponsorship and sponsors want to tie their names to it, and get access to, the right people.
The speaker has to fit certain criteria: they have to be interesting, it’s nice if they’re well-known and it’s best if they don’t cost a lot. Years ago, the foundation paid to have novelist and Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen be the keynote speaker. He’s certainly interesting and well-known, but was too politically liberal for this area. Bob Graham has spoken several times.
The two biggest draws have been Pat Conroy and Judy Bloom. Bloom came to booksALIVE partly as a political statement, with the event coming shortly after Bay County banned its first book from the public school system.
Conroy agreed to be keynote speaker because he’d visited the area and had ties here. “You don’t have that happen very often,” Dick said. “An author of that caliber comes here because they like it here and they like the event. “Many times, the last keynote speaker will recommend someone for the foundation to contact for the next event. “It’s a fairly small community,” Dick said of the writing community. “They all seem to go to these events together.”
Keynote speakers don’t necessarily have to be authors. Judy Bense spoke about her field, underwater archeology.
Then there’s the question of whether an author, regardless of how famous or inexpensive, can be an interesting speaker. None of the visitors expected Conroy would end up being as funny as he was. After his address, there were board members who were half-jokingly admitting they could kick themselves because they realized they could have charged more than $25 for the luncheon admission.
But Dick said the event is not entirely geared toward making money. For instance, she said, they will never charge an admission fee for visitors to the book signings and author workshops. “It has to be at least a break-even event,” she said. But what booksALIVE does is to motivate and excite people. Dick said they accomplish that every year. “We consider this a community service as well as a fundraiser.”
By David Angier