#1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor launches the 2012 Savannah Book Festival with a dynamic evening on Wednesday, February 15 at the Plantation Club on Skidaway Island. This fundraising event includes a delectable dinner, Thor’s discussion of his recent thriller, Full Black, and a question and answer session followed by a book sale and signing opportunity. Thor will also be among presenters in Telfair Square on Saturday, February 18, the main Festival Day which remains free and open to the public.
“We are beyond thrilled that Brad Thor has agreed to open the fifth Annual Savannah Book Festival on the first evening of our five days of literary excellence,” said Festival Executive Director Robin Gold.
Thor’s Full Black, published last July, is a story of espionage and betrayal brilliantly paced with superb nonstop action. Full Black, Thor’s eleventh thriller, is the tenth featuring protagonist Scot Harvath and the first to be published since the operation to eliminate Osama bin Laden thrust Navy SEAL Team 6 into the national spotlight.
“It’s great to see Americans appreciating these types of missions,” Thor said. “It’s one of the reasons I write what I write—to give voice to those ‘quiet professionals’ who technically don’t exist.” “By nature of what they do, they can’t ask for, or take credit for their successes. But because of their skill and courage, we all sleep safer in our beds at night and I am very pleased to see SEAL Team 6/DEVGRU receiving the admiration and thanks they so rightly deserve.”
Thor’s innovative plots and extensive knowledge of intelligence, special operations and terrorist communities earned him recognition from the Department of Homeland Security. They invited him to participate in their analytical “Red Cell Program” which is an elite group of writers and artists who are commissioned to brainstorm terrorist scenarios for our government. The author has appeared on Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNN, Headline News, ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS as a National Security Expert to discuss terrorism as well as how closely his novels of international intrigue parallel the real threats facing the world today.
Thor’s website bradthor.com is rich in information and filled with provocative ideas and questions. For example:
- “What would you think of doing something that is against the rules or against the law to get information for the “greater good”?
- How do you feel about ‘enhanced interrogation? How do you feel about the importance of getting “ticking time” bomb style information that is immediately germane to a real threat such as information that might have prevented 9/11?
On this website Thor is asked, “Do your plots ever keep you up a night, wondering if it might happen”? His answer is chilling and important.
“What Jason Bourne was to the Cold War, Scot Harvath is to the War on Terror,” said Nelson DeMille. “Brad Thor has created the perfect all-American hero for the post September 11 world and will keep readers glued to the pages…”
Other Thor titles: The Athena Project, Foreign Influence, The Apostle, The Last Patriot, The First Commandment, Takedown, Blowback, State of the Union, Oath of the Assassin, and Lions of Lucerne.
The special event, “An Evening with Brad Thor,” on Wednesday, February 15 will be held at the Plantation Club at the Landings on Skidaway Island and will include dinner, a presentation by the author, a Q&A period and book sales and signing. Tickets are $65—reservations are required and are available to the public, members and non-members. For tickets, schedule of events and information contact the Festival website at www.savannahbookfestival.org.
Post Festival Book Event
A community event that book lovers and historians alike will want to know about is a lecture and book signing with Stacy A. Cordery, PhD, author of Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts. Cordery’s talk will take place on Wednesday, February 22 at 7:00 p.m. at the Trustees Theater on Broughton Street. This program, sponsored by The Learning Center of Senior Citizens, Inc. is free and open to the public.
IN MEMORY OF
The Savannah Book Festival is very sad to announce that author, Nancy Clarke, an unflappable artisan who as White House Chief Florist navigated the tastes of the six presidents and first families she served, died on January 14 at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia. She was 66. Clarke retired in 2009 after more than three decades in the White House. A former flight attendant, she began studying floral design when she was in her 30s and joined the President’s floral staff as a volunteer during the Carter administration. The Festival sends its most heartfelt and sincerest condolences to Ms. Clarke’s family and friends in this very difficult time.
In honor of Ms. Clarke and her scheduled appearance at the 2012 Savannah Book Festival, several of her books will be available for sale at the Ex Libris Book Sales Ten in Telfair Square during the Presidents Day weekend Festival.
Regional Authors Appearing at the Savannah Book Festival Y’all
Our Low Country region proudly boasts claim to Pat Conroy, the bestselling author and beloved American storyteller. “Pat Conroy is the most requested author for the festival,” said Board President Stephanie Duttenhaver. “He represents the soul of the Southern writer. As a resident of our beautiful Low Country, it is so perfect that he has agreed to be our [Friday evening] keynote speaker when we celebrate our fifth year.”
In his recent book, My Reading Life, Conroy revisits a life of reading through an array of wonderful and often surprising anecdotes: sharing the pleasures of the local library’s vast cache with his mother when he was a boy, recounting his decades-long relationship with the English teacher who pointed him onto the path of letters, and describing a profoundly influential period he spent in Paris, as well as reflecting on other pivotal people, places, and experiences. Anyone who not only enjoys the pleasures of reading but also believes in the power of books to shape a life will find here the greatest defense of that credo.
Georgia native Dawn Baker author of Dawn’s Daughter grew up in rural Riceboro, Georgia. Dawn’s Daughter is her first book and she hopes it will be the beginning of a vigorous movement to develop strong, independent women and young girls. Baker’s journalism degree is from Howard University and her career has taken her to remote villages of Ghana, Nigeria, and Guatemala, where she produced award-winning documentaries.
Savannah native Hugh Golson co-authored Andrew Low and the Sign of the Buck; Trade, Triumph, Tragedy at the House of Low with his cousin Jennifer Guthrie Ryan. This historic narrative spans two centuries of the intertwined families of the House of Lows, Stiles, Mackays and Clays. Golson and Ryan are descendents of the Low-Stiles family. The story begins with the migration of the senior Andrew Low to Savannah where he becomes a cotton broker in 1800 and ultimately Savannah’s wealthiest merchant. Later, business expands overseas and the Lows become involved in international affairs and intrigue.
Savannahian Carol Megathlin’s new collection of her newspaper columns, Fighting without Fanfare, offers true stories about humans dealing with universal struggles: marriage, family, friendship, discontent, death and war. Originally published in major Georgia, north Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama newspapers, Megathlin’s columns offer frank observations on the human condition. The columns comment on conflict and emotional upheaval attendant upon looming retirement, dissatisfaction in marriage, the anger generated by caring for an aging parent, and the importance of – and loss of – close friends.
The book also offers pieces inspired by Megathlin’s work as founder of the Adopt-a-Soldier program for the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and the two weeks she spent in Iraq visiting a unit deployed to Anbar Province.
John Warley, author of Bethesda’s Child was born in neighboring South Carolina and now splits his time between Beaufort and San Miguel, Mexico. Bethesda’s Child is a novel of politics and genetics. Protagonist, Senator Martin Harmon, is poised to claim his party’s nomination for vice-president of the U.S. He is the leading spokesperson for the REA law; designed to prevent abuses in genetic engineering. A wife, a girlfriend and political enemies bode well for an enticing page turner.
Warley attended The Citadel with classmate Patrick Conroy and earned a law degree from University of Virginia. Warley will be joined during his February 18 talk by Conroy, who wrote the preface for Bethesda’s Child.
Ice Cream Palooza!
For the second year in a row, Savannah’s favorite creamery, Leopold’s Ice Cream, is collaborating with the Savannah Book Festival to create a brand new flavor for the Festival’s guest of honor, with a percentage of all proceeds to benefit the Festival. This year’s Guest of Honor, the legendary Stephen King, will have a new flavor inspired by his latest novel, 11/22/63. We are so excited about Leopold’s latest dairy creation, we’re already salivating!
In addition, Leopold’s will also temporarily rename many of their ice cream flavors, fountain drinks, sandwiches and soups after SBF authors’ books. So stay tuned to this page, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Tumblr for all the delectable details. In the meantime, hightail it into Leopold’s on Broughton Street in downtown Savannah to enjoy some world-famous, award-winning, delicious ice cream! For more information or directions to Leopold’s, please visit www.leopoldsicecream.com.
The Savannah Book Festival Inc. is an independent, non-profit corporation led by a volunteer board of directors. It is committed to remaining free and open to the public and to celebrating the written word. For more information, please contact Executive Director Robin Gold at (912) 598 4040, info@savannahbookfestival.org or visit www.savannahbookfestival.org.
Literati cards from the 2011 Festival will be honored throughout the 2012 Festival.