Photoessayist the Blog

In the Summer of 1977 I was living in a studio apartment, in Washington D.C., with no air-conditioning. In July the temperatures toped 90 degrees. Humidity was close to 100%. I hadn’t been this uncomfortable since my days in eastern North Carolina in the mid-sixties.

I was desperate for some relief. I couldn’t sleep at night because of the heat and humidity.

So I went shopping for something to cool down the apartment. The first store I entered had a stack of the fans you see in the photo. $25.00. 10 minutes later the store had one less fan.

Since then I have used it every time it gets hot. It has been working non-stop for these last 33 years.

As you can see from the photo I don’t often clean it. Maybe I should.

The crowds at the festival were large, very large. Big crowds both days. Crowded. Really crowded. You getting the picture? Here is a slideshow (Click here.) of more photos from the 2010 Los Angeles Festival of Books.

You also should read Tod Goldberg’s account of the book festival. Click here.

Then read the blog ‘Jacket Copy.’ They have several reports of the action at the festival. Click here.

See you next year.

For details go to the LA Times Festival of Books web site.

We lost the big store booth this year. No Borders or Barnes and Noble. That space was taken by the LA Times Pavilion which was out in nowhere’s land in past years. Did we miss the big stores presence? No. The great assortment of writers were still there and just as approachable as ever. Sunday morning James Ellroy was at the Mystery Bookstore signing. A long line of his fans snaked down the center court. Royce Hall was closed to the festival. It was reported that the school wanted to much money. Budget crunch for the school and the La Times. Strangely we didn’t miss it’s use. The smaller panels were always more informative and entertaining anyway.

One thing that didn’t change was those dreadfull Janss Steps. Any plans I made were based on minimizing climbing up or down those steps.

Ended up buying half a dozen books. One was Walker Evans CUBA. The book was discounted 75% off list price at the Getty booth. I paid $6.87. For the other five books the total was $70.

Here’s a small group of photos from both days at the festival.

God those steps again!

Big crowds.

The lawn that borders the Janss Steps is always a good place to relax and read that just purchased book. Good place for photos too. The photo from yesterday of the young boy was also taken on this lawn.

These two young ladies were taking snap-shots of what they entered on the What Are You Reading wall. Ding? Shout.

James Ellroy greeting his many fans at the Mystery Bookstore booth.

The lady in the very short skirt just may be the woman that Tod Goldberg encountered while signing books at Mysterious Galaxy booth. There is a link below to Tod’s account of the festival and the mystery of the short skirt.

Tod Goldberg with the creator of the popular TV show Burn Notice, Matt Nix. Tod is the author of the Burn Notice tie-in books. His first second Burn Notice book is The End Game. Down in the right corner is Bill Rabkin who has worked with Tod’s brother, Lee Goldberg, and I guess still does. Bill writes the Psych tie-in books. His first Psych book was: Mind Over Magic. He has two more in the works. He has also written for that show. Hey I didn’t notice that Mr Rabkin was trying to sneak into the picture. It’s OK.

Bill Rabkin, Tod Goldberg and Tod’s brother Lee Goldberg were all at the Mystery Bookstore booth signing books and just about anything else that was put in front of them.

Here’s Tods’s take on the festival. He does a MUCH better job of describing the weekend.

And here is Lee Goldberg’s take on the festival.

Giada De Laurentiis at the Culinary Stage. It was very crowded. OK? I didn’t have a Stinking Badge so what you see is it. Well not entirely. I did get a partial of Giada. Maybe later I’ll post it.

That’s it for this year.

It’s over. 364 days until the next one.

I think this picture tells it all. Will post more tomorrow. I’m tired.

Saw a lot. Listened to a few excellent panels. Spent a lot. Can’t wait until next year so I can do it all over again.