[inaudible conversations] good morning. We have a few coming in the back. There we go. My name is linda, and we are delighted to have you participate in the tenth annual savannah be book festival presented by Georgia Power and the Sheehan Family foundation. We are blessed to host such celebrated authors in the Trinity United Methodist church today which has been made possible by the generous generosity of kurt and linda anderson. Wed like to extend a special thanks to our literatety members and individual donors who have made and continue to make Saturdays Free festival events possible. Before we get started, theres always housekeeping. Immediately following the presentation, Terry Mcdonnell will be signing festivalpurchased copies of his book in the square. We have a new policy this year. If youre planning to stay for the next author presentation, please move forward into the venue so that the ushers can count the number of Seats Available for people coming in for it. Please, please t
Anderson. Wed like to extend a special thanks to our literatety members and individual donors who have made and continue to make Saturdays Free festival events possible. Before we get started, theres always housekeeping. Immediately following the presentation, Terry Mcdonnell will be signing festivalpurchased copies of his book in the square. We have a new policy this year. If youre planning to stay for the next author presentation, please move forward into the venue so that the ushers can count the number of Seats Available for people coming in for it. Please, please take a moment to turn off your cell phones, and we also ask that you do not use flash photography. And for the questionandanswer portion of todays session, its a little bit different than its been in years past. Please raise your hands, and an usher will bring a microphone to you. Terry mcdonnell is with us today courtesy of robert and diane levy and bill and nina wheel. Terry mcdonnell has won numerous awards for his edi
Columbia journalism review. The wave runner at the New York Times says he writes winningly about his regrets and evokes the magazine world payday of lavishv offices, drink in the evening and hedonism. Nism. Mcdonnell, the accidental life is the saddest fact of the team from the. He help when an amazon i spoke alloys and 2610. Please give a warm stefania oldschool welcome to terry mcdonell. [applause] thank you. This is my first boat. I cant imagine a better place to be right now in this Beautiful Church in this fine, fine city. My book is about writers and their work and working with them. It is an editors notes on writing and writers in the subhead. When i am honest about this book, and i say that out of a a kind of vanity, i want to show myself as a writer. I thought the best way to dote t that with the too bright about the great writers that i edited and what i learned editing them. Not just about writing, but thet writing life. Dating site couch and salts attacked about being a fig
Hair dirty and matted, homeless and struggling. He was a big dude. He came up to me and i was instantly on my guard. And he said where are you going and he said i am going to california and he said how much food do you have. I thought he wanted to rob me. He wanted me to open up my bag and i didnt know what was going to happen but i was jumpy about it. I said i have a little cheese. He was carrying a lunch box and said i lib in a broken down car and he said i walk out to the coal mine to see if anyone is sick and they can hire me. Most days they dont need to hire he and today they dont need me so i will not need my lunch. He had a baloney sandwich, apple and bag of potato chips and he said i want you to have my food because you will need all you can to get to california. You can imagine how bad i felt. It was my first lesson not in generosity but taking responsibility for another person you dont know. He looked at me on the highway and saw a brother. He saw someone on foot, homeless in
Host you hitchhiked. Guest yeah. And guys were throwing beer bottles at me from pickup trucks, and id hitchhiked from twin cities and here i am in gillette and id never seen the west before. I was awestruck by it but gillette was a tough town, and i saw someone walking towards me from town that looked like bad news. And im a young kid out in the great land and kind of jumpy. This guy is walking towards me and i remember he was in a carhartt canvas union suit that was filthy dirty and his hair was matted and he clearly was homeless and struggling. He was big dude. He came up to me, and i was instantly on my guard. And he said, hey, man, where are you going . I said, im going california. And he said, how much food you got . Now, i would give food to anyone who was hungry, but i didnt think thats what was going on. Thought he wanted to rob me. Wanted me to get me to open up my bag. I didnt know what was going to happen but i was definitely jumpy. So, i said, i just got a little cheese. An