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Book festival fare: Kinky, authors
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Cold Mountain” author and National Book Award winner Charles Frazier along with mystery writer, songwriter, salsa salesman, Jewish cowboy and failed Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman have been selected as the keynote speakers for the second Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival on Labor Day weekend.
During a Monday luncheon at Watershed in Decatur, festival organizers unveiled their ambitious plans for the literary festival, which drew an estimated 50,000 attendees in its inaugural year. This year’s event will feature 300 authors, including fantasy/sci-fi writer Terry Brooks, humorist Roy Blount Jr., 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winner Natasha Trethewey and music journalist Chuck Klosterman.
According to programming director Tom Bell, the new Decatur tradition that started “as a harebrained scheme among friends sitting at a table at Java Monkey” will feature Friday field trip opportunities for elementary and high school readers; meet-and-greets with author/musicians John Wesley Harding and Peter Case and chefs/cookbook authors Marvin Woods and Scott Peacock; a youth poetry slam final; a teen literary salon; and a Mardi Gras-inspired parade through Decatur’s square, featuring area book club members.
“We like to think of ourselves as the city too busy to hate and the city not too busy to sit down and read a great book,” said AJC DBF executive director Daren Wang.
During the weekend, former AJC book editor and incoming Atlanta magazine book editor Teresa Weaver will interview Frazier onstage about his latest book, “Thirteen Moons,” which has been translated into Cherokee. The session will also feature Myrtle Driver, translator of Cherokee.
For info: www.decaturbookfestival.com.
PEACH-Y MERGER FOR LUXURY GLOSSY
Atlanta Peach magazine’s reach just got a lot longer. On Monday, it was announced that Ocean Drive Media Group, the owners of the Atlanta glossy, has entered into a partnership with Greenspun Media Group and Niche Media to create “the largest network of city-specific luxury publications in the country,” according to Ocean Drive head Jerry Powers. Greenspun Media owns various titles in Las Vegas and is the owner of the Las Vegas Sun daily newspaper; Niche’s holdings include publications in Aspen, Colo.; Boston; and Los Angeles. The merger will allow all three companies’ publications to tap into a total of 16 markets and an estimated 4.4 million readers.
A WHOLE LOT OF DIMES FOR DIMES
The final numbers have been crunched from this month’s citywide 23rd annual March of Dimes Dining Out fund-raiser. The event — featuring eateries that included Aria, Emeril’s Atlanta, the Capital Grille, Bluepointe, Nikolai’s Roof, Shaun’s, Taurus, Thrive, Trois and Wisteria and after-party venue Lotus Lounge nightclub — raised more than $100,000 for Georgia’s babies. Said event chair and Q100 morning man Bert Weiss: “The generosity of this community never ceases to amaze me.”
OVERSCENE
Rapper/actor Ludacris dining and sampling a bottle of 2000 Andrew Jeffries Sauvignon Blanc at Two Urban Licks. …
“Will & Grace” Emmy winner Leslie Jordan (currently co-starring in the CW summer series “Hidden Palms”) taking a break from his countless Gay Pride appearances over the weekend for a lunch of grilled chicken panini and a glass of iced tea at Lobby at Twelve.
CELEBRITY DOCKET
“Saving Private Ryan” actor Tom Sizemore was sentenced Monday to 16 months in prison for violating his probation in a drug case.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Cynthia Rayvis ordered the sentence after authorities said they found methamphetamine in the actor’s car on May 8 in Bakersfield, Calif.
Sizemore, 45, was on probation for a previous drug conviction.
He was arrested in Bakersfield for investigation of seven drug-related charges, including methamphetamine possession.
He has been in jail without bail since June 5, when he surrendered on a warrant alleging he had violated his probation.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Billy Davis Jr. of the Fifth Dimension is 67. Musician Mick Jones of the Clash is 52. Actor Gedde Watanabe (“ER,” “Sixteen Candles”) is 52. Singer Chris Isaak is 51. Singer Terri Nunn of Berlin is 46. Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (“Magnolia,” “Boogie Nights”) is 37. Actor Sean Hayes (“Will and Grace”) is 37. Actor Matt Letscher (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”) is 37. Actor Chris O’Donnell is 37. Country singer Gretchen Wilson is 33. Actor Jason Schwartzman (“Slackers,” “Rushmore”) is 27.
Contributing: news services
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