Featuring interviews and book-signings by authors Lisa See, Simon Tolkien and Rona Barrett, CALM Auxiliary’s 32nd Annual Celebrity Authors’ Luncheon will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 21, at the Fess Parker – A Double Tree Resort by Hilton.
The luncheon benefits CALM’s countywide programs that help prevent childhood trauma, heal children and families, and build resilient communities.
Andrew Firestone will serve as master of ceremonies. Dianne Dixon and Tom Weitzel will conduct the interviews, and Ruta Lee will be a guest interviewer.
“The CALM Auxiliary is very proud to be hosting such a wonderful community event showcasing some incredible authors, all the while supporting CALM’s important cause,” said Becky Cohn and Carolyn Gillio, co-chairs of the luncheon.
“The entire auxiliary has been behind this project from the start and we couldn’t do our job without every one of them,” they said. “We feel fortunate to be involved and to help CALM in its mission.”
See is The New York Times bestselling author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, Dreams of Joy and China Dolls.
In her most recent novel, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, See incorporates research on international adoption, the history of China’s Akha people, and Pu’er tea farming and customs to write about a family separated by circumstances, culture and distance.
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane paints a portrait of a little-known region and its people, and celebrates the unbreakable connection between mothers and daughters.
See was born in Paris but grew up in Los Angeles. She lived with her mother, but spent considerable time with her father’s family in Chinatown. See now lives in Los Angeles.
Her first book, On Gold Mountain: The One Hundred Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family (1995), was a national bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book.
The book traces the journey of See’s great-grandfather Fong See, who overcame obstacles at every step to become the 100-year-old godfather of Los Angeles’s Chinatown and the patriarch of a sprawling family.
Tolkien was born in England in 1959 and grew up near Oxford. His grandfather was J.R.R. Tolkien. He studied modern history at Trinity College, Oxford, then become a lawyer specializing in criminal justice.
His novels include Final Witness, The Inheritance and The King of Diamonds.
His newest novel, No Man’s Land, set in northern England between 1909 and 1919, was inspired by the real-life experiences of the author’s grandfather J.R.R. Tolkien during the World War I.
It conjures a classic coming-of-age story against the backdrop of 10 chronological and turbulent years of social and technological change throughout Europe and the world. Tolkien lives in Southern California.
Barrett is a pioneering entertainment reporter, commentator and producer with a career spanning more than 30 years. Hollywood’s Variety magazine calls her “the lady who turned entertainment coverage into big biz.”
Her career began at age 13 when she conceived and organized the first international fan club. Her earlier efforts helped launch the careers of Eddie Fisher and Steve Lawrence.
From the time she became an entertainment columnist for the Bell-McClure newspaper syndicate as the youngest columnist to report on Hollywood in 1957, and through her role in inaugurating Good Morning, America, Barrett has blazed the trail for innovative entertainment reporting and for women in the media industry.
With her recently published book, Gray Matters, Barrett shines a light on the day-to-day issues confronting all seniors and the loved ones who care for them.
Peppered with pictures and memories of her Hollywood days, Gray Matters is a look at aging, or, as Barrett refers to it — phasing.
In addition to the interviewed authors, the following authors will have their books for sale and available for book signing:
Danya Belkin: Tanya’s Tech Troubles
Melissa Broughton: Sleepy Bunny, The Bunny Who Loved Lavender
Dr. Guy Clark: Sharkbait
Kent Ferguson: FIRESONGS-Morning Musings, Evening Embers
Steven Gilbar: Library Book-Writers on Libraries
Walter Tompkins: Goleta, The Goodland
Shown and sold by: Amanda de Lucia, executive director of Goleta Valley Historical Society
Betsy J. Green: Way Back When: Santa Barbara in 1917
Gail Kearns, Lindsey Moran, Denise Woolery: The Gourmet Girls Go Camping
Lida Sideris: Murder and Other Unnatural Disasters
Elizabeth Stewart: No Thanks Mom, The Top Ten Objects Your Kids Do Not Want
Howard and Judy Wang: Sailing Around the World, Volume I & II
Book sales and signing start at 10 a.m. with lunch at 11:45 am. Author interviews begin at 12:45 p.m.
Tickets are $150 per individual. For tickets and event information, call 969-5590 or visit http://calm4kids.org/events/celebrity-authors-luncheon/.
For more information about CALM’s services, call 965-2376 or visit www.calm4kids.org.
— D’Arcy R. Cornwall for CALM Auxiliary.