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Perry Public Library : Jerry Nelson, "Dear County Agent Guy" Author Visit: Jerry Nelson, Monday, June 20, 7:00 PM at Perry Public Library Knee-slapping funny one moment, poignant the next, Jerry Nelson’s new book, Dear County Agent Guy, provides a very special glimpse into a distinctly American way of life. In the tradition of Mark Twain and Jean Shepherd, Dave Barry and Garrison Keillor, Jerry Nelson is a humorist of the American heartland. A fourth-generation dairy farmer, Nelson discovered his voice and had a new calling to go along with his day job—writing a humorous column called “Dear County Agent Guy.” Nelson’s depictions of daily life, from the point of view of a taciturn husband with a twinkle in his eye, are read by 250,000 people a week—and woven into A Prairie Home Companion scripts.
Located in Archive / … / 2016 / June
Western Gateway Park, Des Moines - The Wonder of Words Festival: The Wonder of Words Festival is a celebration of the written word. The outdoor festival will feature presentations and book signings by authors of both national and local acclaim, as well as workshops, conversation panels, literary exhibitors, books sales, children’s entertainment and activities, and food trucks. The festival will take place on June 18th and 19th from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and will be held in Western Gateway Park. As part of our programming, we will be conducting a book discussion for the 2016 All Iowa Reads book, Lila by Marilynne Robinson. We would love to invite your book club to participate in our on-site book talk on Sunday, June 19 at 1:45 p.m. The event is free and open to anyone who would like to participate.
Located in Archive / … / 2016 / June
Beaverdale Books, Des Moines: Book Talk: Larry Cotlar: New Book by Sports Radio Host Larry Cotlar Shares Thirty-Four Years Sports Interviews A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Larry Cotlar grew up with three passions - St. Louis Cardinals baseball, sports in general and radio. Over the next forty-one years, Cotlar was able to parlay those three passions into a career in sports radio. He will discuss his career and the many sports figures he had the pleasure of interviewing on Sunday, June 12 at 1:00 PM at Beaverdale Books. Cotlar’s book, The Biggest Rolodex in Sports, features some of Cotlar’s most memorable interviews. The time that he interviewed controversial Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley for more than an hour, an interesting encounter with Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott, a memorable exchange between Bob Knight and Abe Lemons, an emotional interview with Rick Majerus and his mentor, Al McGuire, and a blown interview opportunity with Reggie Jackson are just a few of the stories related in this book. Cotlar has also been the play-by-play radio voice of the Drake men’s basketball team since 2006. He also tells the story of the 2007-08 Drake team which was the biggest story in college basketball as it earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time in 39 years. So sit back, relax, and enjoy stories of some of your favorite sports heroes as told by long-time sports radio personality Larry Cotlar. Cotlar began his career in sports talk radio in 1981 at the legendary WHO Radio in Des Moines. He has also worked in national sports radio at the Sports and Entertainment Network and American Sports Radio Network in Las Vegas and the One-on-One Sports Radio Network in Chicago. During those thirty–four years in sports talk radio, Cotlar has interviewed thousands of guests in both the sports and entertainment world. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, such as Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Hank Aaron, Joe Montana, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Gibson, Ferguson Jenkins, Steve Carlton, Pete Maravich, Pat Summitt and many more. The 2007 Iowa Sportscaster of the Year, Cotlar has also interviewed the likes of such Iowa icons as Dan Gable, Hayden Fry, Johnny Orr, Dr. Tom Davis, C. Vivian Stringer, Jim Zabel and Dolph Pulliam.
Located in Archive / … / 2016 / June
Beaverdale Books, Des Moines: Book Talk: John Domini: Local Author John Domini Shares Short Stories from Hollywood This new collection of linked short stories delights in and exploits the language and paraphernalia of industrial Hollywood. Writer John Domini will appear at Beaverdale Books on Saturday, June 25 at 1:00 PM to read from his newest collection of short stories. The new book delves into a night at the movies, featuring all the familiar types—the rom-com, the action-adventure, the superhero, and the spy—but the narratives are still under construction, and every storyline is an opportunity for the unimaginable twist. Motive and identity are constantly shifting in these short stories that offer both narrative and anti-narrative, while the stunted shop-talk of the movie business struggles to keep up. With the wit of Steve Erickson’s Zeroville and the inventive spirit of Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics, John Domini offers a collection at once comical and moving, care- fully suspended between a game of language and a celebration of American film. With Movieola!, John Domini has three stories collections and three novels in print. Other books include selections of criticism and poetry. He’s published fiction in Paris Review and Ploughshares, non-fiction in GQ and the New York Times, and won a poetry prize from Meridian. Grants include a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. The New York Times praised his work as "dreamlike... grabs hold of both reader and character," and Alan Cheuse, of NPR, described it as "witty and biting." He has taught at Harvard, Northwestern and elsewhere and makes his home in Des Moines.
Located in Archive / … / 2016 / June
Council Bluffs Public Library: All Iowa Reads Book Discussion - Lila by Marilynne Robinson: Book Discussion on Lila by Marilynne Robinson, author of Gilead, led by Marlys Lien, Adult Programming Librarian.
Located in Archive / … / 2016 / July
Wonders of Words Festival - Downtown Des Moines: The Wonder of Words Festival is a celebration of the written word. The outdoor festival will feature presentations and book signings by authors of both national and local acclaim, as well as workshops, conversation panels, literary exhibitors, books sales, children’s entertainment & activities, and food trucks. JUNE 18-19, 2016 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Free Admission Downtown Des Moines
Located in Archive / … / 2016 / June
Des Moines - Artisan’s Gallery 218 - Author Visit: Kali Van Baale: Meet the author, enjoy refreshments, and view the artwork, as Kali VanBaale launches her newest midwest novel. Set in the lush countryside of Wisconsin, Jean Krenshaw is the ideal 1960’s dairy farm wife. She cooks, sews, raises children, and plans an annual July 4th party for friends and neighbors. But when her brother-in-law Tommy, who lives next door, marries leery newcomer Liz, Jean is forced to confront a ten-year-old family secret involving the unresolved death of a young woman. With stark and swift prose, The Good Divide explores one woman’s tortured inner world, and the painful choices that have divided her life, both past and present, forever. Kali VanBaale’s debut novel, The Space Between earned an American Book Award, the Independent Publisher’s silver medal for general fiction, and the Fred Bonnie Memorial First Novel Award. She is also the recipient of a State of Iowa Arts Council major project artist grant. Her short stories and essays have appeared in The Milo Review, Northwind Literary, The Writer and several anthologies.
Located in Archive / … / 2016 / June
Des Moines - Artisan’s Gallery 218: Jen Wilson "Water Story Shares Some Serious Science": Water Story Shares Some Serious Science Enjoy a fun evening with Des Moines author Jen Wilson at Artisan’s Gallery 218 on Tuesday, May 24 from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. Sample some wine, enjoy refreshments, and get your book signed! Artisan’s Gallery 218 is located in Valley Junction at 218 Fifth Street. For more information about this and other events, visit www.artisangallery218.com or call 255-0218. There is plenty of parking available. Published by the folks at the RAYGUN t-shirt store in Des Moines, WATER is a fictional story from award-winning author Jennifer Wilson that features Freja Folsom, a city reporter who wants nothing to do with the environmental story she’s been assigned. But a man who illegally dropped a well into the city’s aquifer leads Freja to the passionate showdown between farmers, government workers, worried citizens, and the sexy head of the Water Works utility. Suddenly, the poisoned water of Iowa seems like the story that might save Freja’s life — and revive the spirit of the state she loves, before it gives up and becomes Mississippi. Okay, so maybe it’s not that fictional. Jennifer Wilson has been writing for more than fifteen years for publications, including, Esquire, National Geographic Traveler, Better Homes & Gardens, Budget Travel, Bon Appetit, Parents, Midwest Living, Iowa Outdoors, the Chicago Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (the dearly departed) Gourmet and many others. Wilson’s first book, Running Away to Home, was a roots travel journey back to the Croatian mountain village of her ancestors. It received the Best Nonfiction of 2011 Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the Des Moines Public Library Foundation’s Emerging Iowa Author Award in 2012. Water was her first release with local iconoclast RAYGUN and she claims that every minute of the process was unicorns and rainbows. Beaverdale Books will have books available for sale. For more information about purchasing a book, call 279-5400 or visit www.beaverdalebooks.com
Located in Archive / … / 2016 / May
Perry Public Library: Author Visit: Steven M. Druker: Explore the Truth about Genetically Engineered Food In his groundbreaking book, Altered Genes, Twisted Truth: How the Venture to Genetically Engineer Our Food Has Subverted Science, Corrupted Government, and Systematically Deceived the Public, author Steven Druker explains the revolutionary technology of genetic engineering, how it has evolved since it was first developed in the early 1970’s, and its effects upon the world’s food supply today. With claims that this mammoth venture has been chronically and crucially dependent on deception, Druker presents a lively and engaging narrative revealing how, for more than thirty years, thousands of biotech advocates worldwide (including many respected scientists and scientific institutions) have systematically compromised science and contorted the facts in order to foster the growth of genetic engineering and get the foods it produces onto our dinner plates. Druker will give a free public presentation on Sunday, May 15 at 3:00 PM in the meeting room of the Perry Public Library. Beaverdale Books will have copies of the book available for sale and signing. Steven M. Druker is a public interest attorney, founder and executive director of the Alliance for Bio-Integrity, and prominent commentator on the risks of GE foods.
Located in Archive / … / 2016 / May
Des Moines - Beaverdale Books Author Visit: Sparkle Abbey: Discover a New Adventure with Raiders of the Lost Bark Readers looking for a new adventure will want to stop by Beaverdale Books on Friday, May 13 at 6:00 PM for a free program by a popular local writing duo. Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of two mystery authors (Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter) who are friends and neighbors as well as co-writers of the Pampered Pets Mystery Series. The pen name was created by combining the names of their rescue pets—Sparkle (Mary Lee’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog). They reside in central Iowa, but if they could write anywhere, you would find them on the beach with their laptops and, depending on the time of day, with either an iced tea or a margarita. In their newest book, amateur sleuth and Bow Wow Boutique owner Melinda Langston finds herself "Glamping Under the Stars” with a blackmailer who turns out to be Orange County’s hottest new gourmet pet chef, Addison Rae. Before Mel can put an end to Addison’s strong-arming, the chef is found dead. Mel is just one of many suspects who had motive to snuff out the demanding chef. Was it Redmond, the angry sous chef who detested working for Addison? What about rival chef, Pepper Maddox? The glamping chef gig was hers until Addison blackmailed her way into the job. And then there’s Asher, a charming fellow camper whose past relationship with Addison isn’t the only secret he’s guarding. Mel’s not one to tuck tail and run, even when it looks like she may be the next victim. Raiders of the Lost Bark is the eighth book in the series. Additional titles include, Desperate Housedogs, Fifty Shades of Grey Hound, and Downton Tabby. They will be happy to sign copies of their books. For more information, call 279-5400, stop by Beaverdale Books, located at 2629 Beaver Avenue, Suite 1, or visit www.beaverdalebooks.com.
Located in Archive / … / 2016 / May

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