L.A. Times Festival of Books

Every year the Times sponsors this shindig on the UCLA campus, packing the grounds with tents containing publishers, booksellers, authors and others. Hadn't been to one since '05, when we went with my sister. Plus my friend Bob Crais was doing a panel, so off we set for Westwood. (As always, click on the images to see a larger view.)

Audry sez: "I think it's that way!"


You would never know the publishing industry was in so much trouble. The place was packed. Seemed like twice as many people as the last time I was here.


Ray is in that tent somewhere...


A row of booths by Royce Hall.


I totally love Taschen Books, so of course I had to stop by their booth. A whole book about colored vinyl and picture discs!! I gotta get me that!


Heading down the majestic steps to the lower portion of the campus revealed even more booths.


Later in the day we caught up with Bob. He was so overwhelmed by the sight of me that he collapsed into my wife's arms.


"Hey -- isn't that Tony Robbins!?"


The story of how I met Bob is kind of interesting, according to my mother. In 1977 I got a gig writing for "Quincy M.E." I never got past story and assumed the project was killed. A couple of years later, I got a call from this guy named Bob, who had just taken over as story-editor of the show. He told me he'd been going through all the old unproduced scripts and came across the script the previous editor had written based on my story, and would I like to see it? (I said, sure -- and was highly gratified to see that it was one of the all-time great stinkers. Serves him right for cutting me off!) Anyway, Bob and I got to talking; turned out we'd both been to the Clarion SF writer's workshop (at different times and places); also turned out we lived about a couple of blocks away from one another. And so a friendship was born. Oddly enough, ten years later, when we both moved out of our respective houses, our new houses were also a couple of blocks away from one another.

Anyway, back to the book festival. Here's Bob during his signing:


And here's Bob before his signing. Way, way before his signing. Like a few decades before his signing. The heck with the Sexiest Writer Alive. Say hello to the most adorable writer alive!


Oh, well. None of us looked cool back in the Seventies. Here he is in action today: