A Book Story
in pictures
by Will Yurman
The Festival of Books is a place for publishers to meet authors, authors to meet readers, and readers to find books. The 12th annual festival was held at the Florence Events Center on Saturday, September 23rd. It was a day that suddenly felt like fall with a steady rain most of the afternoon. A sign perhaps, that it’s time to load up on books and prepare for the fall and winter to come.
Author Lee Barckmann, 72. Barckmann has always loved to write but worked in other professions as a younger man. “I didn’t have the courage or discipline to make a go of it,” he said of his younger self.
Connie Bradley, 85, has authored three children’s books including “Snowball: The Nanny Goose of Sutton Lake,” and “Lulu…the dancing snail.” Her inspiration has come from real animals as well as a grandchild who told her to write a book about a snail.
Judy Fleagle, 81, co-founded the Festival of Books 12 years ago. Fleagle spent 22 years teaching first and second graders in Northern California before becoming a magazine editor and then finally a book author.
Correction: The caption for the photo of Judy Fleagle originally said she taught kindergarten and first grade. It’s been corrected to accurately reflect she taught first and second-graders.
Thank you so much for sharing this! Judy Fleagle is truly an amazing person! Though I wasn’t able to attend, I love having this information!