Dear Reader,
Today’s guest author, Linda Kass began her career decades ago as a magazine writer and correspondent for regional and national publications. She began writing fiction about twelve years ago with two historical novels, Tasa's Song, and A Ritchie Boy.
Her new book, Bessie, is a fictional profile of the early life of the remarkable Bess Myerson, the musically talented daughter of poor Russian Jewish immigrants who was named Miss America despite the bigoted milieu of 1945. The story opens a window into mid-century American life, and it also allowed her to explore themes of prejudice, beauty, and self-worth during a precarious moment in our cultural history.
You can reach out to Linda, [email protected]
Welcome to the book clubs, Linda and your bookstore dog, Wally…
The poet, Mary Oliver, in her book Dog Songs asks, "What would this world be like without dogs?" Her book celebrates the special bond between human and dog as understood through her own relationship to the canines who accompanied her daily walks, warmed her home, and inspired her work. Throughout the book, the many dogs of Oliver's life merge as fellow travelers and as guides, uniquely able to open our eyes to the lessons of the moment and the joys of nature and connection.
I own an independent bookstore. (I am also a writer and, like Oliver, I am a dog lover). By the time we opened the doors of Gramercy Books in December of 2016, I had a young Labradoodle named Wally with whom I had a special bond and who followed me everywhere, including into the bookstore. Our customers adored him and soon began asking for Wally when they came to visit. Without really trying, Wally had become the bookstore dog. To make it official, I took Wally to a training facility affiliated with the American Kennel Club. After putting him through all sorts of maneuvers, AKC gave Wally a Canine Certificate of Good Citizenship that I promptly framed and mounted on a bookstore wall.
In March of 2018, Wally chose his first recommended book pick for a social media post our digital gurus called #WallyReads. We let him nose around, literally, and he went for Tara Westover's memoir Educated. An unusual selection, I wondered if he got focused on the big pencil image on the book cover. (Or maybe he just followed our customers around, which is what he does, and a lot of them were picking up that book.) Lots of recommendations followed, always with Wally posing next to a book; choices like Our Dogs, Ourselves by Alexandra Horowitz, What I Lick Before Your Face by Jamie Coleman, and Writers and Their Pets by Kathleen Krull drew the most likes on Facebook posts.
The next year, we photographed Wally next to the perfect book to celebrate Valentine's Day: How to Say I Love You in (almost) Every Language by Celeste Shelly. This book also has beautiful artwork and teaches all of us how to share our affection in many different languages! Other appropriate choices included Throw the Damn Ball: Classic Poetry by Dogs (who wouldn't like a hilarious collection of poetry authored by dogs named Sparky, Snowy, Tucker, and Louie?) and Lessons from Lucy, a book from Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Dave Barry about his beloved senior dog, Lucy. Dogs teach us so much about life, and Lucy taught Dave how to live in the present, how to let go of daily grievances, and how to feel good in your own skin.
Wally is an ever present and joyful friend to me. I am never alone during what can be very solitary time when writing my novels because Wally always sits right under my desk, waiting for me to take a break so we can go outside for a walk!
-- Linda Kass
Email: [email protected]
For Reader's Guides and more, visit: https://www.lindakass.com/book-clubs
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
* I hope you enjoyed reading today's guest column. If you're one of the winners, or your entry is an Honorable Mention in this year's Write a DearReader contest, it will be featured as a guest column. Cash prizes, rules and deadlines, along with last year's winning entries, read all about them at: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2023/index.html
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
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