Tag: Richard Lederer

Expired: Festival of Books Schedule

San Diego Festival of Books

A complete lineup of the panels and speakers at the August 26 Festival of Books can be found here.  Admission to the event is free, though there is a small charge, $3, to attend the panel discussions. Tickets can be purchased online ahead of time. Of that fee, $1 from each ticket will be donated to the San Diego Council on Literacy. Events in the Children’s Pavilion are free.

Presentations will be held in four locations: Main Hall, McMillin Event Center; Foyer, McMillin Event Center; NTC Command Center, Room 1; and Children’s Pavilion, Legacy Center.

SDWEG members T. Jefferson Parker, Richard Lederer, Corey Lynn Fayman, Steve Breen, and Barrett Clemmenson Powell are among the speakers to be featured at the event. A number of speakers at past Guild programs are also featured in some of the panels.

A map showing the layout of the venues is also available at the same link as the schedule. Scroll down to locate the map.

The event organizers are also looking for volunteers to help as author escorts; speaker or event coordinators; program and venue support; greeter and information booth; children’s pavilion assistants; and support staff for vendors, exhibitors, and sponsors. For more information about these opportunities, see this link.

Tip of the Hat to . . .

From the February edition of The Writer’s Life

  • Peggy Hinaekian, whose book, Of Julia and Men, is included in the San Diego Public Library’s Local Author Exhibit.
  • Newsletter Editor Laura Roberts’ book, Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned From Pop Songs, is also included in the Local Author Exhibit.
  • Gary Winters, for having two poems selected for the San Diego Poetry Annual. One poem will be in the veterans section, as Gary is a former United States Marine.
  • Guild members Richard Lederer (“Conan the Grammarian” on Feb. 6), Tom Leech (“Tales From the Trails: San Diego’s Rich Outdoors History” on April 25), and Frank Newton (“The Conquistadors and the Inca” on Feb. 25, and “The French Revolution and Napoleon” on Feb. 22) who are all teaching courses at San Diego Oasis this spring.

Tip of the Hat to . . .

From the September issue of The Writer’s Life

  • Peggy Hinaekian, who has scheduled a book signing event and/or exhibit of the etchings from her book at The Riford Library in La Jolla on Saturday, September 17 at 3 pm.; Barnes and Noble in Mira Mesa on Saturday, October 1, from 4-6 pm, and La Jolla Art and Wine Festival on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 8 and 9.
  • Rick Lakin for digital publication of new authors’ titles in June, July, and August.
  • Phil Pryde, author of San Diego: An Introduction to the Region, for being featured in an interview by columnist Fred Dickey in the Aug 22, 2016, issue of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
  • Chloe Edge, Dave Feldman, Richard Lederer, Tom Leech, Caroline McCullagh, and Frank Newton for teaching courses at OASIS San Diego and Escondido during the fall 2016 semester.

Tip of the Hat to . . .

From the August 2016 newsletter

  • Marcia Buompensiero for establishing her own publishing firm: Grey Castle Publishing, which will soon be publishing her newest book, Sumerland, under the pen name M. Lee Buompensiero.
  • Laurie Asher and Anne Janda being selected for inclusion in The Second Annual Memoir Showcase on June 28th at the Horton Grand Theatre. Entries were written about a pivotal event in the life of the writer and were performed by event actors.
  • Mardie Schroeder for her book Go West for Luck Go West for Love now being available on Kindle at Amazon.com.
  • Richard Lederer for presenting “Centennial at the San Diego Zoo” at the Coronado Public Library Summer Festival on July 29th.

What You Missed

ledererby Mardie Schroeder, from the May 2016 newsletter

Our speaker needed no introduction. His enthusiasm for the English language, and for how much William Shakespeare contributed to it (1,700 words) made for a fun, delightful evening. The world is celebrating the 400th year of Shakespeare’s death–from The Royal Shakespeare Company’s traveling troupe presenting Hamlet to far corners, to the annual student Shakespeare Festival presentations on the Prado in Balboa Park the weekend of April 30th.

Richard Lederer attributes the following coinage to Shakespeare: “One for all, and all for one,” “There’s the rub,” “A dog will have his day,” “Frailty thy name is woman,” “The lady doth protest too much,” and “ To the manner born.”

We learned that there has never been a love story more about blood and guts than Romeo and Juliet. And that Romeo’s last wish was to be laid by Juliet. (Did he really say that?!) We learned that Shakespeare used more words in the entire English vocabulary (40%) than any other writer; that he virtually invented modern English; that Hamlet has the most lines; that Iago the second most; that the iambic pentameter has the same rhythm as the heartbeat. And what does “oxymoron” mean? Sharp dullness. William Shakespeare was a master at oxymorons.

And so it is thanks to our life member, Richard Lederer, who once again gave us a Shakespearience to remember.

Tip of the Hat …

From the March 2016 issue of the newsletter

  • Richard Lederer and Caroline McCullagh for recently being awarded a Publication Communication Award and the National George Washington Honor Medal by the San Diego chapter of the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge. The award was for the article “The Star Spangled Banner – How Francis Scott Key Made History,” published in 2014.
  • Margaret Harmon for having her article “Composting: A Money-saving Drought Buster” published in the San Diego Audubon Society magazine Sketches.
  • Bill Barrons for contributing the proceeds of his latest book Marine Corps Daze to Honor Flight, a nonprofit organization honoring U. S. veterans.
  • Wayne Williams for publication of his book, Stop the Wars.
  • Gary Winters for having his multicultural novel about a Yaqui boy in Mexico, The Deer Dancer, accepted for a review in the Mensa World Journal.

A Tip of the Hat To . . .

by j.lee43, on Flickr
Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic License   by  j.lee43 

— Phil Pryde for his contribution to Logan Jenkins 9/11/15 U-T column regarding the naming of the Coronado Islands. Check out Phil’s new listing on the Speakers Bureau page.

— Anne Janda for becoming the newest member of the SDW/EG Board of Directors.

— Richard Lederer for having a segment of bloopers from his book Anguished English included in “The Best of Car Guys” Public Radio Labor Day show.

A Tip of the Hat To . . .

Tip of the Hat by ttfnrob, on Flickr
Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic License   by  ttfnrob 

Phil Pryde, whose book San Diego: An Introduction to the Region has been given three 5-star ratings on Amazon.

Norma Posy, whose book Side Pocket was a finalist in the Action/Adventure category at the 2015 Beverly Hills Book Awards.

Richard Lederer and Caroline McCullagh, who have become the senior columnist and brand-new book columnist for the national Mensa Bulletin.

Gary Winters, whose creative memoir Borzoi Boy was accepted by Dual Coast Magazine. For pay. Share your good news! Send to RthLys@cox.net

San Diego Book Awards, 2015

sbawards1Congratulations to SDW/EG members who were finalists in the 2015 San Diego Book Awards, announced June 20th !

When West Meets East, A Year in Asia on Our Own  by Muriel Sandy was a finalist in the Unpublished Memoir category; Deadly Little Secrets by Marcia Buompensiero was a finalist in the category in Unpublished Novel category; and American Trivia Quiz Book by Richard Lederer and Caroline McCullagh was a finalist in the Best Published Non-fiction: History and Biography.

Other authors and awards may be viewed at http://www.sdbookawards.com/.

November Program Announcement

Resident Word Wizard Richard Lederer will take us on a joy ride through our stupendous, tremendous, and end-over-endous English language. Using his original poetry and accompanying images, the verbivorous Dr. Lederer will include a dazzling Halloween frolic, introducing his new book, Monsters Unchained. It includes 1,000 jokes, riddles, puns and poems about scary, slimy, slithery, spooky, slobbery, classical monsters.

Richard has appeared on radio and television shows, including his own weekly radio show, A Way With Words on KPBS, in San Diego. “Lederer on Language” is currently featured every Saturday in the San Diego Union Tribune and recently featured a limerick contest. He has written columns for a number of major national publications and is the author of more than 35 books about language, history, and humor. The American Trivia Quiz Book, companion to American Trivia and coauthored with SDW/EG member Caroline McCullagh, was published in September 2014 .

Please note the change in meeting time to Wednesday, November 19th.