Picture PULPWOOD QUEEN TO KEYNOTE 2014 ET BOOK FEST Picture East Texas Book Fest Announces Honorary Chair & Guest Speaker for 2014 Event The East Texas Book Fest announced today that the honorary chair and featured guest speaker for the sixth annual Book Fest taking place on Saturday, September 13, is Hawkins resident and international book club celebrity, Kathy L. Murphy (formerly Patrick). Kathy is founder of The Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Club, an international book club with 555 chapters across the United States and in 15 foreign countries. The club, whose name originated because Northeast Texas is pulpwood timber country, is thought to be the largest “meeting and discussing” book club in the world. Her monthly book-club choices can propel an author onto the bestseller lists. Kathy, owner of Beauty and the Book, a one-room one-chair beauty salon in Hawkins, may be second only to Oprah when it comes to one person having an influence over what Americans read these days. Pat Conroy (Prince of Tides), Rebecca Wells (Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood), Fanny Flagg (Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe) and John Berendt (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) all have graced Kathy’s Annual Pulpwood Queen Book Club Convention, also known as Girlfriend Weekend. The Pulpwood Queens caught on in Texas after Bob Phillips of televisions Texas Country Reporter dropped by for a show and pedicure. The phenomenon spread nationwide after she appeared live with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America and then with Oprah herself on her cable TV network Oxygen. The Pulpwood Queen has also been featured in The Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal. Every one of Kathys clubs organizes some kind of literacy program of its own choosing. Golden, Colorado, for example, has built libraries for South Dakota Indian reservations. The book club in Anchorage, Alaska, helped start a chapter in a womens prison. “Given Kathy’s passion for reading and her strong advocacy for literacy, we are thrilled that she accepted our offer to serve as honorary chair for this year’s Book Fest,” says Nancy Crawford, executive director of the Literacy Council of Tyler, and a member of the East Texas Book Fest steering committee. “We are delighted to team up with the East Texas Book Fest and to promote, support and celebrate libraries and literacy in East Texas,” says Dr. Kouider Mokhtari, chair of the Tyler Area Partners for Literacy. SALT president Dee Brock also thinks the new collaboration ifs a plus. This working relationship will add new dimensions, activities, authors and attendees for this years Book Fest, she says. The sixth annual East Texas Book Fest takes place on Saturday, September 13, 2014, at the Tyler Junior College West Campus located at 1530 SSW Loop 233, Tyler, Texas 75701. The event is free to the public. More than 60 Texas authors, who write in many genres and for all ages, will display their books and chat with readers. In addition there will be many displays and activities to support literacy. “We are anticipating a great event this year celebrating the vibrant and diverse community of Texas authors and advocates for literacy and libraries,” says Jeanne Standley, director of the Robert R. Muntz Library at UT Tyler, and chair of the 2014 East Texas Book Fest steering committee. To learn more about the Book Fest, visit etxbookfest.org SALT organized the first East Texas Book Fest in 2009 to celebrate libraries, authors, books and reading. SALT is an organization of Smith County Public libraries, including Tyler Public Library, Lindale Library, Troup Municipal Library, Bullard Community Library and Whitehouse Community Library. To learn more about SALT, visit SALT.org. TAP for Literacy is a collaboration of agencies and organizations devoted to expanding literacy for all ages and circumstances. To learn more, visit the TAP website at TAPLiteracy.org Picture
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 19:44:00 +0000
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