For those seeking to escape the slings and arrows of politics on the final weekend before the presidential election, today’s Iola Family Reading Festival promises its attendees a full day of bipartisan fun.
The festival, which comes along only every two years, attracts celebrated writers, illustrators and booksellers from across the country to the campus of Allen Community College.
This year’s theme pays homage to the mystery genre — think private eyes and femme fatales, slatted blinds and frosted glass; think Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Elmore Leonard — a subject that will be plumbed at length by ACC drama instructor Tony Piazza in his keynote lecture, “Mystery Books to Movies.” Piazza will take the podium at 11 a.m. in the college library.
Another Iolan (at least by birth), children’s book illustrator Stephen Gilpin, will open the festival with a reading and discussion at 10 a.m. Gilpin is the award-winning illustrator of “What to Do When You’re Sent to Your Room” and the pen behind the popular “Fart Squad” series.
In a nearby room, at the same time, Scott Morrow Johnson will be discussing his newly published biography of legendary KU basketball coach Phog Allen. “Phog: The Most Influential Man in Basketball” was co-authored by the subject’s granddaughter, Judy Allen Morris. Johnson, who grew up in Minnesota and lives in Seattle, counts himself a lifelong Jayhawk fan.
Gilpin and Johnson will both be on hand to sign books after their presentations.
At noon, writers Greg Kincaid and Kim Holley will address the festival.
Kincaid, a lawyer by training and the successful author of four previous novels, will discuss his latest, “Tantric Coconuts,” which he describes as “the Cliff Notes to life, with a love story and dogs thrown in it to boot!”
Holley, a native of southeast Kansas, is a children’s book author currently at work on a series of stories about “an ornery little ball-of-fire tomboy named Murphie McGee.”
Surely one of the most anticipated talks at this year’s fest will come from John E. Miller. A former South Dakota State University history professor and highly-reviewed writer, Miller is the author of eight books, including “Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder” and “Small-Town Dreams: Stories of Midwestern Boys Who Shaped America.” Miller will speak at 1 p.m.
The highly-touted young adult novelist Regina Sirois will occupy the same slot. The Kansas native is the author of two award-winning YA novels, “On Little Wings” and “The Truth About Fragile Things.”
Rounding out the Family Reading Festival’s roster of speakers will be children’s book writer and illustrator Cheryl Harness, the author of “The Adventurous Life of Myles Standish” and “Three Young Pilgrims” (among dozens more), and New York Times’ best-selling author Denise Grover Swank, the creator of the wildly popular Rose Gardner mystery series.
LLOYD ZIMMER, of “Lloyd Zimmer, Books and Maps” in Chanute, will lend his expertise to festival patrons between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. If you’re curious about the value of a book or map or other paper product, Zimmer is your man. He will also be available to answer any other questions about rare and collectible books, including inquiries concerning major collections and donations to university and state libraries and museums.
For the tiny detectives in your life, the festival will host an all-day “Make-N-Take” room, where kids can craft their own secret agent badges, code makers, mystery disguises, spy planes and “spynoculars.” This secret lab is located in room A-36 and runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Children’s story time will occur at every hour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. An “early literacy” lab will provide information and reading lists to parents and caregivers. Door prizes will be awarded throughout the day. And “Paw Patrol” mascots Chase and Marshall will be available for photos and hugs.
