Picture-Perfect Weekend: IWPA Authors Meet the Public and
Greet a Special Guest at the 2006 Printers Row Book Fair
by Jan Lisa Huttner, Printers Row Book Fair Chair

What a great weekend! Unlike prior years in which we shivered through thunderstorms and/or sweltered from oppressive heat, the weather for this year's Printers Row Book Fair on June 3rd and 4th was picture-perfect. Once again, we purchased one side of a tent in a prime location (right off the corner of Polk and Clark Streets). The huge canopy over our two tables identified us by our initials as well as our full name, which made it very easy for people looking for "IWPA" to find us this year, and just as easy for those who'd never heard of us to figure out why they should care.

The list of IWPA authors selling and signing their books year included Elizabeth Rann Arrott, Dr. Elana Ashley, Art Brauer, Marcy Darin, Dr. Judith Davis, Helen Gallagher, Susan Gidel, Margaret Goldstein, Gen LaGreca, Helen Lehman, Rachel Madorsky, Cheryl Price, Jane Ranshaw, Marlys Marshall Styne, Hadji Williams, and Marianne Wolf-Astrauskas. Most of these members also worked an additional shift to assist with meeting, greeting, and crowd control, making it extremely easy to manage the schedule. Board members Lana Brown, Cecilia Green, Suzanne Hanney, and Terry Haycock were also onsite to lend a hand, as was new member Felicia Swanson.

Continuing the new tradition begun last year with a visit from PBS Newshour host Jim Lehrer, this year's special guest was Samuel G. Freedman. Sam is a professor of journalism at Columbia University, education columnist for The New York Times, and author of several books including Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry (which won a National Jewish Book Award in 2001). He came to visit us on Saturday, right before presenting his new book Letters to a Young Journalist to a warmly-receptive crowd at University Center. Letters to a Young Journalist, part of Basic Books' new series "The Art of Mentoring," is a must-read for all aspiring reporters as well as an insightful refresher course for those who craft non-fiction pieces of every length (including daily rags, magazines, and full-length tomes).

Special Guest Sam Freedman & his son Aaron visit IWPA's table at the Printers Row Book Fair. Photo credit: Jan Lisa Huttner (June 3, 2006)

Freedman builds an eloquent case in chapters called "Temperament," "Reporting," "Writing," "Career," and "Ancestor Worship," which culminates in the following summary wisdom "To be a journalist is to live a public life, with public success and public failure, all of it deeply, inescapably personal. Sometimes the terrible frustration of journalism is not knowing whether you had any effect or not. Sometimes the frustration is knowing all too acutely that the world has rejected your words. Sometimes the frustration is feeling unrecognized, trapped, stymied, stifled. Journalism is a business of proving yourself anew every single story, every single day. Yesterday's scoop is tomorrow's recycling bundle." (Page 165)

Based on feedback we've received over the past few years, the Board is considering expanding to a full table next year. So please complete the survey included in this issue of PenPoints. (You can also download it from the homepage of our website www.iwpa.org.) And save these dates on your own calendar right now: June 2 & 3, 2007. Who knows who and what next year's PRBF will bring!

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