Thursday Evening Keynote, September 13, 2012
TICKETED EVENT  Keynote Details

Jeff Lindsay – Carpe Diem with Both Hands (Dexterously & Sinisterly)

JEFF LINDSAY is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestselling “Dexter” novels on which the international hit TV show is based. His books appear in 39 languages around the world.

Although a full-time writer now, he has worked multiple jobs including actor, comic, director, MC, bouncer, teacher, singer, songwriter, coach, steel worker, cook, detective, and sailing instructor. 

He also worked for comedian Steve Allen for four years, assisting on TV shows such as Meeting of Minds and the books How To Be Funny and The Funny People. Lindsay has authored 22 plays, wrote several TV sitcoms, and many feature films with his cowriter and wife Hilary Hemingway. For five years Jeff wrote “Fatherhood,” a semi-syndicated weekly column on parenting from the male perspective. He hosted several local PBS-TV shows and a documentary, Hemingway In Cuba, which was seen nationally on PBS.  More Info

Saturday, September 15, 2012
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Complimentary Trolley Service from Parking Garage
Flagler College - Ringhaver Student Center
50 Sevilla Street
St. Augustine, Florida 32084

Diana Abu-Jaber – Birds of Paradise

DIANA ABU-JABER’s newest novel, Birds of Paradise, was named one of the top books of the year by NPR, the Washington Post, and the Oregonian. Her novel, Origin, was named one of the best books of the year by the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune. Her second novel, Crescent, won the PEN Center Award for Literary Fiction and the American Book Award. Her first novel, Arabian Jazz, won the Oregon Book Award. The Language of Baklava, her memoir, won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award. She teaches at Portland State University and divides her time between Portland and Miami. More Info
Photo by: Scott Eason

Lynne Barrett – Magpies

LYNNE BARRETT’s story collection, Magpies, was awarded the Gold Medal for General Fiction in the Florida Book Awards. Her other books are The Secret Names of Women and The Land of Go, and she coedited Birth: A Literary Companion and The James M. Cain Cookbook. Barrett has received the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Mystery Short Story. Her work has appeared in One Year to a Writing Life, Miami Noir, Delta Blues, A Dixie Christmas, The Written Wardrobe, and many other anthologies and magazines. She is a professor in the M.F.A. program at Florida International University in Miami.  More Info

Steve Berry – The Columbus Affair

STEVE BERRY is the New York Times bestselling author whose new book, The Columbus Affair, looks at Christopher Columbus in ways no previous author has. Berry’s The Jefferson Key, is the seventh book in the bestselling series featuring Cotton Malone. He also wrote three other stand-alone thrillers: The Third Secret, The Romanov Prophecy, and The Amber Room. Berry has 14 million books in print, which have been translated into 40 languages and sold in 51 countries. Steve and his wife, Elizabeth, have started a foundation, History Matters, dedicated to aiding the preservation of our heritage. So it is fitting that they choose to live in St. Augustine.  More Info

Adrian Fogelin – Summer on the Moon

ADRIAN FOGELIN is the daughter of a fiction writer. It’s no surprise that before long she began to write stories of her own. She is the author of seven novels for middle grade readers and one young adult novel. Her latest book is Summer on the Moon, a 2012 title. Her books have received two Florida Book Award Gold Medals and numerous other awards in the U.S., as well as second place for the Premio Selezione Bancarellino, the most prestigious children’s book award in Italy. Her books have been included in numerous state lists including Florida’s Sunshine State Young Readers Award.  More Info

SENATOR BOB GRAHAM is the former two-term governor of Florida who also served for 18 years in the United States Senate. Senator Graham served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence—including eighteen months as chairman in 2001–2002. Graham is the author of Keys to the Kingdom, a novel of suspense which draws on his background in government and intelligence. His book, America: The Owner’s Manual, teaches the skills of civic participation. Senator Graham has a total of 38 years of public service.  More Info
 

Photo by: B.C. McCullough

WARD LARSEN’s bestselling debut novel, The Perfect Assassin, is in development to become a major motion picture. His latest novel, Fly By Night, earned him his second medal at the Florida Book Awards. Larsen also contributed to the Edgar-nominated Thrillers: 100 Must Reads. A former Air Force fighter pilot, Larsen has served as a federal law enforcement officer and is also a trained aircraft accident investigator. A pilot with 18,000 hours of flight time in over twenty different aircraft, he is a captain with a major airline and lives in southwest Florida.
More Info

DEBORAH SHARP, a Florida native, was a seasoned reporter for USA Today. She left the news business behind to write her Mace Bauer Mysteries featuring Mace’s wacky Mama. Her books are traditional, with a southern-fried edge: think Agatha Christie with a couple of cousins named Bubba. The debut book was Mama Does Time in 2008. Mama Sees Stars (2011) was the fourth in the series. Deborah has ridden horseback across Florida as research, and been interviewed on The Today Show. She says the six-day trail ride was easier. A board member for Mystery Writers of America, Florida Chapter, she’s married to TV reporter Kerry Sanders.  More Info

CAREN UMBARGER’s first novel, Coming To: A Midwestern Tale, won a Bronze Medal at the 2011 Florida Book Awards. The book is set in Mason City, Iowa, where Caren grew up, and was inspired by the lives of her grandmothers. Caren has a BA in violin performance, and has been a professional musician and string teacher since 1983. She taught and performed in Minneapolis for three decades and is now Artistic Director of the Flagler Youth Orchestra in Palm Coast. Caren lives in St. Augustine where she writes, teaches, and performs with her husband in The Island Duet.  More Info

Jeff Ashton – Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony

JEFF ASHTON’s recent book, Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony, grew out of his experience as part of the prosecution team for one of the most-watched trials in U.S. history. Its dramatic conclusion only left behind more questions about the accused and the nature of the justice system. During his session, Ashton will share his take on the intricacies of the trial and the persona of the defendant. Ashton recently retired from a 30-year career as a prosecutor in Orlando, Florida, and is a veteran of more than 70 successful homicide prosecutions. He and his wife, Rita, live in Winter Park. More Info
 

James C. Clark - Presidents in Florida

JIM CLARK’s book, Presidents in Florida, outlines how the presidents have shaped Florida and how Florida has influenced the presidents. It is the latest of his six well-researched and entertaining books on political history. His previous book, Red Pepper and Gorgeous George, chronicled the 1950 election campaign “that changed everything in Florida.” A veteran journalist and historian, he holds a doctorate in Florida history from the University of Florida and a master’s degree from Stetson University. After working on newspapers in Tampa and Orlando, he joined the University of Central Florida history faculty. More Info

 
Scott Eyman - Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille

SCOTT EYMAN is the author of 11 books on the film industry, including, with veteran actor Robert Wagner, The New York Times bestseller, Pieces of My Heart. His latest offering is Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille, which won the 2011 Richard Wall Memorial Book Award. Eyman has lectured extensively around the world, most frequently at the National Film Theater in London and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Eyman is the literary critic for The Palm Beach Post, and also writes book reviews for The Wall Street Journal. He and his wife, Lynn, live in West Palm Beach. More Info

Hilary Hemingway – Hemingway in Cuba

HILARY HEMINGWAY’s book, Hemingway in Cuba, details her uncle Ernest Hemingway’s life on the island from 1939 to 1960. It was the inspiration for a PBS documentary scripted by Hilary and her author husband, Jeff Lindsay. The documentary led to a feature film, Hemingway & Fuentes, about the friendship between Ernest and his Cuban captain. The film is under development, with screenplay by Hilary and actor-director Andy Garcia. In her session, Hilary will share parts of the PBS documentary and comment on its evolution. Since her books are out of print, she will be happy to sign copies of her books brought by attendees.

Hilary will be accepting the Posthumous Literary Legend Award for Ernest Hemingway at the Legends.

Gary Libby - Reflections II: Watercolors of Florida 1835-2000

GARY R. LIBBY is an author and art historian whose latest book is Reflections II, Watercolors of Florida 1835–2000. He is a nationally recognized scholar and author of award-winning books on Florida art. His Coast to Coast: The Contemporary Landscape in Florida was awarded the 1999 Gold Medal as the best museum publication in the Southeastern United States. He received the Florida Art Museum Directors Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. Libby is Director Emeritus at the Museum of Art and Sciences in Daytona Beach, Florida.  More Info

William McKeen – Mile Marker Zero: The Moveable Feast of Key West

WILLIAM McKEEN is the author of seven books and the editor of four more. His latest book, Mile Marker Zero: The Moveable Feast of Key West, is a Florida Book Awards Gold Medal winner. Other books by McKeen are Outlaw Journalist, a biography of Hunter S. Thompson; Highway 61, a memoir of a 6,000-mile road trip with his teenage son; and two anthologies, Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay and Literary Journalism: A Reader. His writing has appeared in Holiday, American History, Maxim, The Saturday Evening Post, and many other newspapers and magazines. He is professor and chairman of the Department of Journalism at Boston University.  More Info  
 

Irvin D. S. Winsboro – Florida’s Freedom Struggle: The Black Experience from Colonial Time
                                                                                      to the New Millennium

IRVIN D. S. WINSBORO’s Florida’s Freedom Struggle: The Black Experience from Colonial Times to the New Millennium has received the Stetson Kennedy Award. Winsboro has written more than 50 scholarly articles and serves on the Board of Editors of the Florida Historical Quarterly. He is the author or editor of numerous award-winning books including Old South, New South, or Down South?: Florida and the Modern Civil Rights Movement, and the first book in the Florida Historical Society Press Gold Seal Series, Florida’s Civil War: Explorations into Conflict, Interpretations and Memory. Winsboro is a tenured professor of history at Florida Gulf Coast University.  More Info

Poetry 

 Jay Hopler – Green Squall
 

JAY HOPLER’s poetry, essays, and translations have appeared in numerous magazines and journals including American Poetry Review, The New Republic, and The New Yorker. His first book of poems, Green Squall, won the 2005 Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. Green Squall went on to receive the 2007 Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award, a 2007 National “Best Books” Award from USA Book News, a 2006 Florida Book Award, and a 2006 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award. Hopler teaches Creative Writing/Poetry at the University of South Florida.  More Info

Poetry Workshop 

Carolee Ackerson Bertisch – Who Waves the Baton?

CAROLEE BERTISCH is the author of Who Waves the Baton? a book of poetry and prose, and is the recipient of North Florida Writers Festival’s poetry prize for Common Ground. In 2010 Bertisch was the recipient of the EVE Award for her work with libraries.

Lynn Skapyak Harlin – Real Women Drive Trucks

LYNN SKAPYAK HARLIN is the author of poetry collections Real Women Drive Trucks and Press One for More Options. She is currently the senior editor of Closet Books. Harlin hosts the Shantyboat Writers Workshop on her boat docked on the Trout River in Jacksonville, Florida.            More Info

Sharon Scholl – Unauthorized Biographies

SHARON SCHOLL is the author of three collections of poetry and two scholarly books. Her most recent poetry collection, All Points Bulletin, is about her world travels. She is a Professor Emeritus from Jacksonville University, where she taught humanities for 32 years.