Festival of Books: Authors, readers can mingle

By Jomay Steen, Journal staff | Sunday, September 23, 2007

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Like any successful annual event, the Fifth Annual South Dakota Festival of Books continues to experience growing pains.

When the Festival of Book’s “Where Readers and Writers Rendezvous” hits the streets of Deadwood Sept. 28-30, Rapid City already will have had a preview of the weekend fun.

Organizers have set up two new events with a readers’ discussion at the Rapid City Public Library on Monday, Sept. 24, and a writers’ reception at the Canyon Lake Chophouse on Thursday, Sept. 27.

Even as some events begin a smooth launch into the weekend, the festival schedule is still undergoing changes, according to an official.

Sherry DeBoer, director of South Dakota Center for the Book and executive director of South Dakota Humanities Council, says the festival audiences continue to grow, a good sign of the event’s popularity. Yet, there are always those bumps in the road.

DeBoer fielded a series of calls early Monday evening after Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford backed out of the festival. “Richard had a family emergency that forced him to cancel all travel plans for two weeks. These things happen,” she said.

While disappointed, DeBoer stressed that the festival is packed with great writers and events. “We have lots of great people,” she said.

That includes Ivan Doig, Pete Dexter, Marilyn Johnson and Rob Fleder.

Kathy Antonen, a South Dakota School of Mines & Technology English professor, will lead the discussion of Doig’s “The Whistling Season,” which is the 2007 One Book South Dakota program’s selection. Doig, a Montana native and festival featured writer, will speak at the book festival in Deadwood.

The Thursday reception for Dexter, Johnson and Fleder — nationally known, award-winning authors — begins at 5 p.m. With seating for 150 people, fans will have the chance to listen to lifelong friends Dexter, Johnson and Fleder as they talk about their careers and professional writing histories.

Dexter admitted to knowing little about what will happen at the reception’s lectern. “I’m not even sure if I’m required to wear long pants to this thing,” he quipped.

Speaking over the telephone from his island home near Seattle, he reflected on his work with the married couple of Johnson and Fleder. When Johnson was an editor of Redbook magazine, she called Dexter with a writing assignment about breasts.

Bemused about the assignment, he completed it — crediting Johnson for expanding what he knew about the subject matter as well as his work. He received a call from Johnson that gave him perspective about his writing style.

“She said ‘I really would like it so that it would make some sense,’” he said.

Johnson’s book “The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs and the Perverse Pleasure of Obituaries” is sure to strike a chord. “It’s really a good book, well written and one of those ideas that I can’t understand to this day why it isn’t on the New York Times bestseller’s list,” Dexter said.

Fleder has edited Sports Illustrated for two decades and recently edited “Sports Illustrated: The Basketball Book” and “Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition.” He has been an editor for its “50 Years, The Anniversary Book,” “Great Baseball Writing,” “Great Football Writing” and “Hot Shots: 21st Century Sports Photography.” He also selected and edited Dexter’s nonfiction collection.

Author of “Paris Trout,” winner of the 1998 National Book Award, Dexter has released a collection of nonfiction pieces in his 2007 book “Paper Trails: True Stories of Confusion, Mindless Violence, and Forbidden Desires, A Surprising Number of Which are Not About Marriage.”

Formerly of South Dakota, Dexter (whose grandmother’s home is known as the Whittemore House and remains on the east side of Vermillion) has attended most — possibly all — of the book festival.

Its relaxed atmosphere, the lack of rivalry and pretentiousness and the general mix of the crowd all create a good experience and one of the writer’s favorite celebrations.

“I can’t image anyone coming to this thing and not wanting to come back. It is absolutely the best one I have been to,” he said.



If you go

What: One Book South Dakota discussion, featuring Ivan Doig’s “The Whistling Season” and a discussion led by Kathy Antonen

Where: Conference Room B, upstairs, at Rapid City Public Library, 610 Quincy St.

When: 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 24

Admission: Free

If you go

What: Reception with authors Pete Dexter, Rob Fleder and Marilyn Johnson

When: 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27

Where: Rapid City’s Canyon Lake Chophouse at 2720 Chapel Lane

Admission: $15

For more information: Call 394-4171

Other: Presentation by three authors who have been professionally linked at several magazines and book collaborations, and they’re still friends.