Plus: Lucky Prof Writing Vaccine Book; Brian Urlacher Writes A Children’s Book
“This past Sunday, students and community members alike braved the snow to hear Cornel West discuss his new book The Radical King at Rockefeller Chapel. Notwithstanding the talk’s title, West spoke on issues ranging from to Hollywood to Wu-Tang Clan to President Barack Obama,” the Chicago Maroon reports.
Here’s a snippet.
On Monday, West gave the keynote address at the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Observance and Sunrise Celebration, held by the American Library Association at its midwinter meetings . . . see next item.
Conference On Ice
“While the American Library Association (ALA) conferences held in Chicago commonly see some of the highest attendance thanks to the association’s hometown’s central location, winter weather hitting Sunday of this year’s Midwinter Meeting made that something of a mixed blessing – more than 19 inches of snow fell between Saturday night and Monday morning,” Library Journal reports.
“While many locals stayed home (and perhaps watched the Super Bowl) and a few out-of-towners were able to beat the storm by departing early, many librarians and vendors were snowed in. Some 1,500 flights arriving and departing Chicago’s airports on Sunday and Monday were canceled, forcing conference-goers to stay one, two, or even three days longer than originally intended – including much of the LJ staff.
“Before the blizzard, though, Friday and Saturday saw robust traffic and a bumper crop of news.”
You’ll have to click through to get it.
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Publishers Weekly also reported on the snow storm’s impact on the conference.
“The majority of Albert Whitman’s staff was able to get to McCormick Place for meetings there on Monday, while a few stayed home to work. And at IPG on Chicago’s North Side, publicist Caitlin Eck reported that while many employees worked from home on Monday, Triumph Books’ staff was at the office in full force, working on its instant Super Bowl book, due to hit stores in the Boston area this weekend, commemorating the New England Patriots victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
“Things were just as mixed-up at local bookstores. The Book Cellar closed early on Sunday afternoon, but had a normal day on Monday, including two book groups meeting at the store. Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville both closed on Sunday and cancelled Monday evening’s author event with Irvine Welsh (The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins, Doubleday). The Seminary Co-op hosted an offsite event with Cornel West on Sunday afternoon that drew 1,200 people. While sales at the store on Sunday were slow, due to the combination of the Super Bowl and the weather, $3,500 in sales of West’s book, The Radical King (Beacon Press) more than made up for the shortfall.”
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About Triumph’s instant sports books . . .
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More news from the ALA meetings:
* Newsweek: Libraries Dust Off Quiet Innovations.
* Survey Of Digital Resources.
* Newbery Medal Goes To: “A Story In Verse About Middle-School Basketball Players.”
* Newbery Honor Awarded To A Cartoonist For First Time.
That would be Cece Bell, for El Deafo.
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Vaccinating America
“Robert D. Johnston, a history professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is working on a book about the controversies over vaccination in U.S. history.”
You, professor Johnston, have just won the Beachwood Good Timing In Publishing Award.
Is It A ‘How To Make Them?’
Brian Urlacher wrote a children’s book.
999: Ten Stories
“Author and former Leo Burnett CEO Richard Fizdale shared details from his latest book, 999: A History of Chicago in Ten Stories, at the Wilmette Historical Society on Jan. 25,” the Wilmette Beacon reports.
“Designed by Wilmette’s Benjamin Marshall, Fizdale revealed how the development of the historic building was accompanied by greed and corruption during a critical period in Chicago’s history.”
Downstate Guy Reads A Lot
“Peru resident reads 5,000 books in 8 years.”
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Comments welcome.
Posted on February 4, 2015