Wow – yesterday I was too wiped to type, but I’m glad to say the Fifth Annual Kerrytown BookFest went off very well. Attendance was good, steady and plenty, the weather started dicey but turned beautiful, and the tents weren’t big enough to hold the overflowing crowds for the author panels and children’s activities. Woo hoo.

One thing that really chuffed me was that the Ann Arbor News featured us prominently in the calendar and book events listings on Sunday and had photos of the events on Monday. Dag, it made me feel like Mark Maynard for a second. (Minus the Ypstipanties, although I love that Ypsipanties – not for women only ad where he says "I didn’t just invent Ypsipanties – I wear them around the house." But that’s got to be a butt double on the close up.)

I was also very pleased that when I talked to the book sellers they seemed to love the event and feel very invested in it, that it’s an event celebrating the book community that they want to support. At most book shows the vendors start tearing down and heading home at least a half an hour before the putative closing time, but everybody at the Fest stayed to five and beyond, not only because people were still there and buying, but simply because they were having fun and hanging with their peers. Of course that meant that myself and the tear down crew had to stay a little later, but we, the few, the proud, the extremely sore and sweaty, didn’t mind. Kudos to my protesting progeny, their friends, brother John Morgan, my soul sister Jeanne Joesten, and her son Nathan for their brave rearguard activity.

One of the many infamous comments made by the Drum Majorette selected to head the first edition of the other Festival five years ago was This is not about selling books, which, as you might imagine, did not endear her or her production to booksellers, authors, publishers or pretty much anyone else who works on a for profit basis. Well, the Kerrytown BookFest is about selling books, and we’re proud of it. But it’s also about making books, writing books, reading books, collecting books and all varieties of bibliomania, not to mention fish printing, and I’m proud to be a small cog in it.

Rest assured that normal (i.e. abnormal) artistic UBUtivity will return tomorrow.

Love Ya,

Yr Pal,

UBU