Its where well be signing books. We were lucky enough, to have the journalist and author and cohost of the podcast. And he will be doing a brief q a with our author before eric will do a reading and then well open it up for questions. So about our author he was the director and researcher at the National Intelligence of science and path algae for the u. S. Intelligence community. Before joining nfa he is executive Vice President of disney imaginary. A phd neuroscientist. In an inventor with over seven patents and pending patents. His book includes brain, safari and tonights book is all substation. If everyone could give a round of apostle commack. Hi. Again thank you for coming. Thank you for showing up, we want to think diane for organizing this event along with kim peart who is here in spirit if not a person into the bookstore in los angeles. Ericas had an unbelievable literally and metaphorically career and for we get into this true story of spy craft which is an amazing book which
I said for 28 years for the Library Congress and retired a couple years ago. He told me that the National Book festival was something he needed help with and had been started in 2001 as an idea that came from laura bush, laura bush asked Jim Billington around the time of the inauguration in 2001 whether not there was a National Book festival comparable to the one she started in the texas, the texas book festival he said there is not yet but there will be. He came up with the idea of how to put together National Book festival, the idea was to do it in the mall in a series of tents that were set up for the first year end then it turned out getting sponsorships were more difficult than they thought it would be. So he asked me if i get involved and i told him i would do so and i began to be a sponsor and a cochair of the event, ive done that for ten years or so. It is very important to me that the festival goes well and i enjoyed a great deal is a great gift for the country to have a natio
The United States [indiscernible] and so are our champion sponsors , the costar group and the john center. [applause] and, we have many friends, and Media Partners and exhibitors. [applause] now, the National Book festival is and has been one of the most inspirational free events in the Nations Capital and it is only possible because of you, our sponsors. And it does take a village to put on a festival like this, so i want to acknowledge the more than 1000 volunteers, most especially the Junior League of washington. [cheers and applause] which has supported the festival since 2003 with over 40,000 hours, the equivalent of 2. 4 million of time. Thank you. [cheers and applause] and, hundreds of volunteers from the general public, and of course, the hardworking library of Congress Staff who are key in vital to the success of the festival, so please, thank them and join me in that. [cheers and applause] some now it is my honor to welcome the chair of the James Madison council and the cocha
Book festival . I got involved with the Madison Council which is a support arm of the library of congress, it gets most of its money from the federal government but it does not get all of its money from the federal government, there are support people around the country who support the library of congress. I have been involved for a while and i share the madison counsel as it is cold and part of the effort is to help with the National Book festival. For the last 10 or 12 years or so i have cochaired this with the library of congress, first with Tim Billington and with carla hayden. Is there money that you give to work this effort . I do. I have given. Money every year for quite a while and i enjoy it very it is a great free, effort to let people know more about authors and books. We get a couple or maybe 100,000 people or more every year coming here and the importance of it is i want people to learn how to read more and United States are roughly 120 fit in the world in literacy, 125th,
About myself. I hope people are helping you to challenge her own concepts and the concerts around you, of you should be or who you are, i think that as time goes on you will feel more yourself, i think you will find people who see you for you and love you and accept you as who you are and that is ok to challenge the world around you. World is not perfect, it is ideas made up by other people. It is ok to challenge ideas. And i love you, and i appreciate you being here. Thank you roswell that is such a perfect way to end this, rk russell everyone, on behalf of the library of congress, if you are for coming to the National Book festival discussions are coming up, he can find a schedule on my comment joining us now is the cochair of this years National Book festival, david rubenstein, how did you get involved with the National Book festival . I got involved with the Madison Council which is a support arm of the library of congress, it gets most of its money from the federal government but