Book Fest

This last weekend was the annual Festival of Books, held at UCLA. Please don’t think that books or reading is dead. I have attended this event for several years and this year was the most packed I have ever seen it.

Not only do you get to meet the writers and have them sign your books, there are so many vendors and others to visit and see. One feature of the book fest is the panel discussion and interviews with writers. I was able to attend one with Gore Vidal, who has written 22 novels, along with books of essays and so much more.

Since Gore Vidal is noted for his outspokenness on politics, every one that I have mention his name to, has asked me the same question; what did he say?

He started out with an antidote about FDR, who was being pushed around the White House by a young service man. His wheel chair had been stuck and he needed to get to a certain office. The young man was so scared and didn’t know the way to the office he needed to get to. So he keep running down the hall way and then he finally came to the supply closet and put the President in it and closed the door. Roosevelt with his loud booming voice called for help to get out. “I might not be assassinated, but I might be the first President in history to be filed!”

Gore Vidal kept referring to Bush, as ‘the little guy from Texas’. When you are as old as he is, you have earned the right. When asked if history will correctly reflect Bush and Chaney as being horrible, he quipped, “Well every empire has to have its Caligula.” He was appalled that Bush had made the statement that he was a war-time President. He hoped that Obama would not use a military-based economy to fix things. If he went to Afghanistan it could be the start of another war. Gore said to let the Afghans kill each other. Also that 9-11 was because of the USA getting involved in other countries affairs. It was not the work of Al- Qaeda. The thing about with dictators and others who think too much of themselves, they get into a habit of lying.

Of course all of this and more will be in his books and any upcoming essays of his. It was so interesting to listen to a man who has had such a remarkable life. I asked him about his motivation as a writer. He didn’t seem to like that question and just said, “Look, you are either a writer or you’re not.”

I took it as, “I still have a lot to say and I will say it.” To that all I can say is…Here, Here!