@ Your Library

In June, I had the good fortune to be invited to Bloomington/Normal, Illinois, home of State Farm Insurance, Illinois State University, Beer Nuts, La Bamba ("Burritos as big as your head")  and -- more importantly -- Toni Tucker and Terri Ryburn who I'd met through our mutual friend, mystery author, Kate Charles, whose mother still lives in Bloomington. 

I had a wonderful time delivering the keynote address for the Community Cancer Center's Annual Survivors' Dinner, followed the next afternoon by a talk at Milner Library, a model university library which, due to the talents of the Assistant to the Dean of University Libraries, my friend Toni Tucker, had been recently honored by the American Library Association with the coveted John Cotton Dana Award for excellence in public relations.

Kate, an honored alumnae of Illinois State, had told me how royally I'd be treated there, and she was absolutely right.  And how could I not feel like a star when a professional photographer appeared to take pictures of me for a library READ poster, modeled on the Celebrity READ posters put out by the American Library Association? 

So, like Orlando Bloom, Alan Rickman, Renee Fleming, Sean Connery, Dakota Fanning and dozens of others (including Kate!), I've got a READ poster of my very own.  As a former librarian, I couldn't be prouder!