Great Ideas DO Happen - The Edgerton Book Festival

(From the Janesville Messenger, 11-5-06)

(Click here to hear my interview with author Michael Perry on WCLO)


It’s nice to see great ideas meet with success. And the Edgerton Book Festival was both a great idea and a big success.

The festival coincided with the 100th anniversary of Sterling North’s birth. North, of course, put Edgerton on the literary map with the classic Rascal, and this event kicked off by paying tribute to his memory and his family, many of whom were in attendance.

An hour before the festivities were scheduled to begin at the Edgerton Performing Arts Center, a line had already formed at the door to hear Helen Thomas, the famed White House correspondent.

The perfect opening speaker for this event, Ms. Thomas was full of anecdotes and opinions gleaned from 60 years of reporting. Presidents have loved, loathed and feared her. Gerald Ford once famously remarked, “If God created the Earth in six days, He couldn't have rested on the seventh - He would have had to explain it to Helen Thomas.”

In person, she is surprisingly small of stature; she always seemed bigger than life at presidential press conferences. Now a columnist, Ms. Thomas is free to express her thoughts, which included harsh criticism of the current crop of Washington journalists that she believes refuse to ask the tough questions.

If I make it to 86 years old, I can only pray that I will be as sharp as Helen Thomas is at that age. Heck, I wish I were that sharp NOW. She needed a little assistance hearing questions from the audience, but that seemed to be her only concession to age. Besides a sharp brain – and tongue – she still obviously had her stamina, continuing to sign autographs in the lobby for what seemed to be an endless line of admirers two hours after completing her speech.

Besides Ms. Thomas, the day was a bonanza for book lovers as award-winning authors like David Maraniss and Kevin Henkes spoke. Local authors also had a chance to meet the public and show their wares.

Fortunately, my schedule allowed me to hear a presentation by one of my current personal favorites, Michael Perry. Perry is the author of the highly-recommended Population 485, a book about his personal experiences re-connecting with his home town as a volunteer firefighter. Though he admitted he would rather be home alone than doing public speaking, Perry was a very funny and engaging speaker. The passages he read from his books undoubtedly contributed to the brisk sales of his work in the lobby.

As much as I enjoyed the talks by Thomas and Perry, my favorite quote of the weekend may have come from festival organizer Norm Fjelstad, who said that he wanted to prove you could have a successful event in Wisconsin without alcohol. I hope the organizers of the Tallman Arts Festival are listening.