I was so worried. [applause] i was so worried. It was ringing. I thought are going to want to stay in bed and read. Here you are. Thank you and good morning. Welcome to the 2017th National Book festival. I am carla hayden. I am so honored to be able to say im the 14th librarian of congress. As you can see pretty excited to open this event. Our 17th consecutive celebration of books and reading. It is wonderful to see a full house here. Not only will we have a full house here at the convention center, but we have millions and millions of people joining us live on facebook. Thanks to everyone for joining us. Now, we have a fantastic lineup of mainstage authors this year. What better way to kick off a festival than with one of our nations most beloved historian historians, mr. David mcculloug mccullough. [applause] he is here for his sixth National Book festival appearance, and we hope you will continue to make this a habit. He will be followed by diana. [applause] she is the author of the