Speakers and Demonstrators at the 2007 BookFestJamie Agnew (Midwest Noir)
Jamie Agnew owns and operates Aunt Agatha’s Mystery, Detection and True Crime Bookstore with his wife, Robin. They live in Ann Arbor and have two children, Margaret and Robert, and a pug named Snap. He’s read many noir novels over the years.
Robin Agnew (Novelizing History)
Robin Agnew owns and operates Aunt Agatha’s with her husband, Jamie Agnew. Along with being a life long mystery fan, she admits to a girlhood obsession with the Romanovs, Queen Elizabeth I, and Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows. Visit her blog at http://heydeadguy.typepad.com.
Robert Alexander (Novelizing History)
Robert Alexander is the author of the historical novels The Kitchen Boy and Rasputin’s Daughter. Over the course of the last thirty years, Mr. Alexander has studied at Leningrad State University, worked for the U.S. government in the former U.S.S.R., and traveled extensively throughout Russia. Since 1990 he has been a partner in a St. Petersburg corporation that operates a warehouse and customs clearance center, dental clinic, and Barabu, a chain of espresso shops. Born and raised in Chicago, Alexander now lives in Minneapolis. Please visit him at www.rasputinsdaughter.com.
Eve Aronoff (Talking with Chefs)
Eve Aronoff began cooking professionally while attending Brandeis University in Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating with a BA in Comparative Literature, she continued her hands-on experience, creating a working curriculum for herself - from fish markets, to the pastry kitchen, from prep cook, to line cook, to chef. Eve later attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France where she received diplomas in French Cuisine and Wine and Spirits and is currently working towards becoming a Master of Wine through the WSET in London. She is the author of eve-Contemporary Cuisine - Methode Tradionelle. Eve lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she is chef/owner of eve the restaurant.Mitchell Bartoy (Midwest Noir)
Mitchell Bartoy is the author of the Detroit novels The Devil’s Own Rag Doll and The Devil’s Only Friend, published by St. Martin’s Press. Mr. Bartoy was born in Grosse Pointe and has lived his entire life in the Detroit area. A graduate of Wayne State University, he has worked in various capacities for the United States Postal Service and as a college writing teacher. He lives in Troy, Michigan, with his wife and two children. Visit Mitch at www.mitchellbartoy.com.
Jan Brogan (Original Voices on Mystery Fiction)
Jan Brogan has been a journalist for twenty years. She is a former staff writer at The Providence Journal-Bulletin in Rhode Island and The Worcester Telegram and Gazette in Massachusetts and currently works as a correspondent for The Boston Globe. Her freelance work has appeared in Boston Magazine, The Improper Bostonian, Ladies’ Home Journal and Forbes Magazine. Her first novel, Final Copy, won The Drood Review of Mystery’s Editor’s Choice award, and was named by the Drood as one of the eight best mysteries published in 2001. A Confidental Source received a rave review in The New York Times Book Review and was chosen by the Mystery Guild as an alternate selection. Her latest book, Yesterday’s Fatal, was published by St. Martin’s in May, 2007. Brogan is a winner of the Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished financial writing. A native of Clifton, New Jersey, she lives in Westwood, Massachusetts with her husband, her two children, a bird and a dog. Her website is www.JanBrogan.com and you can check out her blog at www.jungleredwriters.com.
Bill Castanier (Moderator, Michigan Notable Books)
What do the dancing chicken, the Sesqui Bear, the world’s largest peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, Tom Sawyer’s picket fence and the Belle Isle Bear have in common? Answer: their creator, Bill Castanier, who used all these vehicles to attract public attention in his more than 30 years as a public relations, advertising and marketing practitioner. Castanier has written thousands of speeches and media releases, produced award winning videos and ad campaigns, edited numerous publications and when necessary donned bear and chicken costumes. He has worked on such varied projects as the Michigan Sesquicentennial Celebration and special assignments for the governor ranging from the Task Force on the Future of Higher Education to the landmark High Technology Task Force. He has earned numerous awards including the Addy, the National Gold Screen Award, the Publisher’s Auxiliary Award - Top Special newspaper section and the National Economic Development Program of the Year 1998. He has participated as a member of such varied community associations as the Michigan State University Alumni Association, the Friends of the Lansing Library, the PTA, the Greater Lansing Food Bank, the Cub Scouts, the Get a Clue Mystery Reading Club and the Lansing Housing Coalition. He helped launch Lansing’s first community read program, One Book: Many Voices, and is on the Michigan Humanities Council Selection Committee for a Read Michigan Program. He has, in addition, interviewed scores of authors for the Lansing City Pulse and for www.spartanpodcast.com. He has a love of literature, including cheap, tawdry pulp mysteries, and he lives in Lansing with his wife.
Sean Chercover (Midwest Noir)
Sean Chercover’s first book, Big City, Bad Blood was published by William Morrow in January of 2007. Formerly a private investigator in Chicago and New Orleans, Sean Chercover has since written for film, television and print. He splits his time between Chicago and Toronto, and generally stays out of trouble. Visit Sean at www.chercover.com.
DYLAN CINTI (design editor, FROM THE PIPE)
Dylan was recruited to join From the Pipe by Galaan Dafa for his remarkable design talents. He helped to create the innovative, authentically pulpy design of From the Pipe, and accompanied Galaan on his business solicitation adventures. He enjoys watching The Twilight Zone, and his favorite film is "Au Revoir Les Enfants." His favorite pulp movie is "Double Indemnity."Judy Clemens (Original Voices in Mystery Fiction)
Judy Clemens is the author of the Stella Crown mystery series, including the Agatha and Anthony nominated Til the Cows Come Home. Stella Crown, a dairy farmer in rural Pennsylvania, also rides a Harley and sports a few tattoos. Judy Clemens herself was born into the Mennonite faith, but discovered her motorcycle leanings later in life. At home in rural Ohio, she lives with a husband, two children, and three housecats. Her newest mystery, The Day Will Come, will be published by Poisoned Pen Press in August 2007. Visit Judy at www.judyclemens.com.
GALAAN DAFA (FROM THE PIPE)
Galaan co-founded "From the Pipe" in the fall of 2006. His many duties included organizing and selecting staff, helping to conceptualize the magazine along with co founder Ben Haddix and soliciting businesses-- most of which rejected him. Galaan's hobbies include playing music, reading ("Watchmen" (graphic novel) and "Invisible Man" are among his favorites) and hoola-hooping. His goal for the pulp magazine is to maintain its status as a profitable business.Peggy Daub (Library Panel)
Peggy Daub, Director of the Special Collections Library at the University of Michigan, came to the University as Head of the Music Library in 1982 and has been at the Special Collections Library since 1989. A music historian by training, she has worked on the economics of musical life and publishing in the 18th century. During her tenure in the Special Collections Library she has overseen the building of deeper subject collections and acquisition of a variety unique manuscripts and archives ranging from that of Theodore Kaczynski to two collections related to Orson Welles. http://www.lib.umich.edu/spec-coll
Dave Dempsey (Michigan Notable Books)
Dave Dempsey is the author of William G. Milliken: Michigan’s Passionate Moderate, a winner of the Michigan Notable Book Award for 2006. Mr. Dempsey is also the Great Lakes Policy advisor for Clean Water Action, a national citizen’s organization working for clean, safe and affordable water, prevention of health threatening pollution, creation of environmentally safe jobs and businesses, and empowerment of people to make democracy work. He had been active in environmental matters since 1982, when he served as an advisor to Governor James Blanchard. President Clinton appointed him to serve on the Great Lakes Fishery Commission in 1994, where he served until 2001. Governor Granholm appointed him to the Michigan National Resources Trust Fund Board in November 2003. He is also the author of Ruin and Recovery: Michigan’s Rise as a Conservation Leader and On the Brink: The Great Lakes in the 21st Century. He now resides in St. Paul, Minnesota, and enjoys the outdoors as a hiker, birdwatcher, summertime swimmer and in-Great Lakes Basin Tourist; he has special affection for the Great Lakes shoreline, including sand dunes, and the great forests of the upper Great Lakes region.Jerzy Drozd (The Future of Comic Art)
Jerzy Drozd began his comics illustration career at 19, self-publishing his own comic books. He has also worked for Antarctic Press on their flagship title, Ninja High School. While at Antarctic Press, he and writer Tom Root (of Cartoon Network’s Robot Chicken) co-created the mini-series PPV: Pay-Per-View. He is one of the artists behind Make Like a Tree Comics, a self publishing comics company that specializes in all ages comics serialized online and collected in print. This venture caught the attention of Glencoe McGraw-Hill, who contracted Drozd to co-create and illustrate a series of pro-social and education comics stories for the “Backpack Reader” series of books. In 2006 he completed his 197 page online graphic novel, The Front, a retelling of the first comics story he self published. Wanting to share his passion for comics, he has taught comics workshops all over the midwest, from Detroit to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and is developing a six weeks comics workshop for the Chelsea Public Library. He lives in Ann Arbor with his wife and two cats.
Loren D. Estleman (Michigan Notable Books)
Loren D. Estleman is the author of more than fifty novels (all of which were written on a manual typewriter), American Detective (2007) being the nineteenth to feature private eye Amos Walker. His other novels include Nicotine Kiss, a Michigan Notable Book Winner for 2007, the Undertaker’s Wife, and Little Black Dress. His work has earned him four Shamus Awards, five Golden Spur Awards, and three Western Heritage Awards thus far. He currently resides in central Michigan with his wife, author Deborah Morgan.
Kay Fedewa (The Future of Comic Art)
Kay Fedewa is a self-taught artist from Lansing, Michigan. She began drawing at a very young age with a desire to become an animator. In middle school she developed the storyline and characters for an animated movie she called The Blackblood Alliance. After high school she attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she studied art for two years and there discovered that The blackblood alliance story could be realized in the form of a graphic novel.
Kay is interested in all creatures of the natural world but has a particular fondness for wolves, the animal that inspired her comic. Aside from art, her hobbies include racing her siberian husky dogsled team, playing Magic the Gathering, and playing video games. She now works for a local graphic design firm, Group230 Design, owned by Fran Russell. She has recently applied to Savannah College of Art and Design in hopes of studying animation.
Steve Fiffer (Home: American Writers Remember Rooms of Their Own)
From 1980 to 1990, Steve Fiffer was a freelance writer for newspapers and magazines, writing extensively for The New York Times, Chicago Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, Sports Illustrated and Inside Sports, where he was a contributing writer. In the mid 1980's he began writing non-fiction books, most recently collaborating with former Secretary of State James Baker on Mr. Baker’s memoir, Work Hard, Study...and Keep Out of Politics. Among the honors he has received for his writing is the Guggenheim Fellowship (2001). In 1995, Pantheon published Home, an original collection of memoirs by several of America’s top authors, edited by Steve and his wife, the author Sharon Fiffer. In recent years Steve’s personal essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine, We Magazine, and on Slate.com. Steve lives in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife Sharon, a novelist and teacher, and their three children.
Jill Gregory & Karen Tintori (Original Voices in Mystery Fiction)
Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori’s first mystery, The Book of Names, was published by St. Martin’s in 2007. They are writing partners who have been best friends for more than twenty years. Jill Gregory is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has written more than thirty books of women’s fiction. Karen Tintori is an award winning author whose most recent book is Unto the Daughters, a family memoir set in Detroit.
BEN HADDIX (co-editor/founder FROM THE PIPE)
Ben is the visionary behind From the Pipe. Also an exceptionally gifted photographer, he helps with the artistic layout of the magazine. His hobbies include sitting at Cafe Ambrosia and repeatedly watching his favorite film "in terms of entertainment value," Poseidon.Karen Harper (Novelizing History)
Karen Harper’s latest novel is The Hooded Hawke, featuring Queen Elizabeth I. She has written eight previous Elizabeth I mysteries. She also writes historical romance and contemporary suspense novels, including the Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning Dark Angel and the bestseller, The Falls. She lives in Columbus, Ohio and Naples, Florida.David Horrocks (Library Panel)
David Horrocks supervises the reference, acquisitions, and collections management programs of the Gerald Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor (www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov). He previously worked as an archivist at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, the Nixon Presidential Materials Project, and the National Archives' Office of Presidential Libraries."
Elizabeth Kostova (Novelizing History)
Elizabeth Kostova is the bestselling author of The Historian. She graduated from Yale and holds an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she won the Hopwood award for the Novel-in-Progress.
Geoff Larcom (Moderator, Open Doors and Full Shelves)
I’m a hometown kid. I attended Burns Park, Tappan Junior High School and Pioneer High School before getting a BA in political science and an MA in journalism from Michigan. I was sports editor of the Michigan Daily my senior year. I worked from 1985-88 as a sports copy editor with the Detroit News Sports department. I returned to Ann Arbor in 1988 to serve as sports editor at the Ann Arbor News until 2000. Since then, I have been a reporter and columnist, specializing in higher education and general assignment. I also do very bad football picks for a contest called Level Larcom. I married my high school sweetheart and we have two sons, Will, 15, and Guy, 18. Guy is named after his grandfather, former city manager Guy Larcom, after whom city hall is named.Steve Lehto (Michigan Notable Books)
Steve Lehto is the author of Death’s Door: The Truth Behind Michigan’s Largest Mass Murder, a Michigan Notable Book Award winner for 2006. He is a writer and attorney who resides in Southeast Michigan with his wife Amanda and two dogs, Milo and Wolfy. He obtained a BA in history from Oakland University and his JD from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in Detroit, where he teaches consumer protection and trial practice. He previously wrote Bobby Isaac: What Speed Looks Like and A Most Unusual Experiment: Chrysler’s Turbine car, both published by Tarheel Press, LLC.Jan Longone (Library panel)
Jan Longone is Curator of American Culinary History at the Clements Library at the University of Michigan. She is the proprietor of The Wine and Food Library, the oldest culinary bookshop in America, and founder and honorary chair of the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor. She is an associate editor for the Oxford University Press Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America and writes the Vintage Volume column for the journal Gastronomica. In June 2000, Longone was presented with the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award for her scholarly determination to preserve and honor American culinary literature and her many other contributions to food history.
Further information on the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive
and the Longone Center for American Culinary Research can be found at
www.clements.umich.edu/culinaryRYAN MARK-GRIFFIN (illustrator, FROM THE PIPE)
A junior at CHS/PHS and artist of the highest quality, Ryan Mark-Griffin was ecstatic when he heard of From the Pipe. In fact, he said something to the effect of "Just...to be a part of this is a life-changing experience. I owe everything to Ben and Galaan."Dan Mishkin (Actionopolis)
Dan Mishkin is the author of The Forest King, his first prose novel for young readers. His career in comic books spans more than 25 years, and he is the co-creator of the girl’s fantasy adventure Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld and the super hero series Blue Devil. In addition to writing well known characters for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, his work has included science fiction, horror, comedy, westerns, sword & sorcery, and adaptations of popular entertainments like Star Trek, Dungeons and Dragons and Roger Rabbit. He has also written health education materials for patients and families. Dan lives in East Lansing and is currently at work on a Forest King sequel and two other young adult novels.Isabella Nicoletti (Talking With Chefs)
Isabella Nicoletti is the Executive Chef at Paesano's and author of perbaccioisabella, Italian Country Cooking from Your Good Friends at Paesano's.
Jim Ottaviani (The Future of Comic Art)
Jim Ottaviani has written professionally for comics for over 15 years. Starting as a reviewer and interviewer for trade magazines, he moved to the other side of the creative fence in 1997 with the publication of Two-Fisted Science. That first trade paperback, focused on physicists, won a Xeric Grant and was an Eisner nominee. Since then he's written six more books on science and scientists, edited and published Charles R. Knight: Autobiography of an Artist, and has three more titles forthcoming from First Second and Simon & Schuster.Jim's first career was as nuclear engineer -- that's where all this science comes from. He currently works as a librarian at the University of Michigan, and that's where all the esoteric reference material come from. In addition to looking things up (for himself and others) and writing comics, Jim also talks about graphic novels at venues ranging from conferences in California to libraries in Michigan to the Nobel Museum in Stockholm.
www.gt-labs.comJosie Barnes Parker (Book Community Award Winner, Open Doors & Full Shelves Panel)
I grew up in Mississippi and attended college at Auburn University where I earned a BA in English. My Masters in Information and Library Studies is from the UM School of Information. I have worked as a public librarian in three systems moving from a very small village in Chelsea to Ypsilanti District and then to Ann Arbor. I have been employed at AADL since 1999 serving as both Manager of Youth Services and Circulation Services before being promoted to Associate Director of Public Services. I was appointed Director five years ago.
Professionally, I have served on the board of the Michigan Library Consortium and am currently president of the Michigan Library Association. I am an active member of national library associations and currently serve on the board of the Public Library Association. My specialized interest is in public library service to youth and access in general. I am very interested in the role of the library in the use of technology to enhance and expand all library materials. Locally, I am a volunteer reading tutor in kindergarten classes at Angell School and will begin a term as Director of the Downtown Ann Arbor Rotary Club in July. I feel very strongly that equal access to public library service and resources for all citizens is a cornerstone in a democratic society.Ann Pearlman (Agony & Ecstasy of Writing)
Ann Pearlman is the author of four books, magazine articles, and fiction. She has been on national road tours, including major talk shows. The movie rights for her memoir, Infidelity, were bought by Lion’s Gate and a Lifetime film staring Kim Delaney produced. St. Martin’s Press geared up for national publicity for her book Inside the Crips until her co-author was arrested and the book and Ann subpoenaed by the prosecution. Ann is a psychotherapist in private practice in Ann Arbor.Gary Reed (Actionopolis)
Gary Reed is the author of many books and graphic novels. Recent releases include Spirit of the Samurai, a young adult prose novel with illustrations by Star Wars artist Rick Hoberg; adaptations of Dracula and Frankenstein for Penguin Books' Puffin Illustrated Classics line; Renfield; Red Diaries; and Saint Germaine. He has also written film scripts, short stories, role playing games, and a video game storyline. Before turning to writing as a freelance career, he owned and operated a chain of bookstores in the Detroit area and was publisher of Caliber Press, a specialty house of comics, books, games, and other related material. In addition to his writing, Gary currently teaches biology courses at various community colleges. He lives in a suburb of Detroit with his wife, Jennifer, and they have four daughters.
Marcus Sakey (Midwest Noir)
Marcus Sakey’s first novel, The Blade Itself, was published by St. Martin’s Press in January, 2007. Marcus is an award winning advertising writer. While writing his novel he shadowed homicide detectives, toured the morgue, and learned to pick a deadbolt in sixty seconds. Born in Flint, Michigan, he now lives in Chicago with his wife. Visit Marcus at www.marcussakey.com.
Randall Scott (The Future of Comic Art)
Randall Scott is a Special Collections Librarian at Michigan State University, where he specializes in organizing and providing rare, popular and radical materials, especially including comic books, popular fiction, and the fugitive publications of activist organizations. He is married to Lynn Wasserman Scott, and their three children are Sara Elizabeth, Ziba Robert, and Margaret Isadora.
CHAD SELL, The Future of Comic Art
Chad Sell runs the Comics Workshop at The Neutral Zone and has taught comics at Community High School. He currently self-publishes autobiographical comics and maintains a website showcase of his work. Chad graduated from Yale University in 2005 with a double major in art and film studies. Throughout his time there, his comic strip was published in The Yale Herald, where he also served as comics editor.Steven Sidor (Midwest Noir)
Steven Sidor is the author of two acclaimed crime novels, Skin River and Bone Factory. He is a graduate of Grinnell College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives with his family near Chicago, and is currently at work on a new crime thriller, The Mirror’s Edge, to be published by St. Martin’s Minotaur in April 2008. Visit him at www.stevensidor.com
Keith Taylor (Michigan Notable Books)
Keith published two new books in 2006. Guilty at the Rapture, a collection of poems and stories, was named a Michigan Notable Book of the Year for 2007. Battered Guitars: The Poetry and Prose of Kostas Karyotakis, a book he translated with his friend William Reader, was published in England. Over the years his work has appeared in a couple of hundred places, ranging from Story to the Los Angeles Times, from Bird Watcher's Digest to the Chicago Tribune to Michigan Quarterly Review (two issues of which he recently guest edited), Poetry Ireland, and The Southern Review. He has won awards for his work here and in Europe. He works as the coordinator of undergraduate creative writing at the University of Michigan.Mark Terry (Original Voices in Mystery Fiction)
Mark Terry is a novelist, freelance writer and editor. He lives in Oxford, Michigan with his wife, sons and spoiled Labrador retriever. He is the author of the Derek Stillwater thriller series. Visit his website at: www.markterrybooks.com
Eric Villegas (Talking with Chefs)
Coming in the fall from Huron River Press is a companion cookbook for Chef Eric Villegas' Emmy award winning PBS cooking show "Fork in the Road." The cookbook will highlight all 4 televised seasons that emphasize Michigan grown food sources across the state, including the Upper Peninsula. Eric features natural, organic, and wholesome foods. The cookbook will follow Eric in his travels showcasing each region's bounties - be it a blueberry farm near Holland or a buffalo ranch in the Upper Peninsula. Also, look for "Fork in the Road" cooking show beginning in April when it goes to national broadcasting!Rob M. Worley (Actionopolis)
Rob M. Worley was born and raised in Detroit. His first published work as a comic book writer was for Marvel Comics, and in the years since he has written comics and stories for several publishers, with work appearing in many countries. He is also the author of several chapter books for independent readers, the first of which is Heir to Fire from Actionopolis, and he has recently completed writing a sequel to that book. Rob has written extensively as a journalist covering both comics and movies at his long-running website Comics2Film.com. He is frequently cited as an expert by such outlets as USA Today and Fox News.