The Gaithersburg Book Festival author recruitment committee is busy trying to out-do themselves for the 2012 festival. During the last few months, they've begun securing another great line-up of award-winning and best-selling authors. Here's a sneak peek at some of the authors you'll be able to see on May 19. In upcoming issues of the GBF News, we'll highlight the latest additions to our slate of featured authors.
~Fiction~
Madeline Miller's  debut novel, “The Song of Achilles” (Ecco), is a retelling of the story of the hero of Greek mythology. Miller attended Brown University and studied at the Yale School of Drama, specializing in adapting classical tales to a modern audience. For the last 10 years, she has been teaching and tutoring Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students in Cambridge, Mass.
Sarah Pekkanen  is the author of “These Girls” (Washington Square Press), the follow-up to her two best-selling novels, “The Opposite of Me” and “Skipping a Beat.” Pekkanen is a former journalist for USA Today and The Baltimore Sun, and writes a regular column for Bethesda Magazine. She lives with her family in Bethesda, Md.
~Mystery~
Brad Parks  became the first author in the combined 60-year history of the Nero and Shamus Awards, given to the year’s top mystery writers, to win both awards for the same book – his debut mystery “Faces of the Gone.” His upcoming release, “The Girl Next Door: A Mystery” (Minotaur Books), will hit bookshelves in March 2012. Parks is a former journalist with The Washington Post and the Newark Star Ledger. This will be Parks’ second appearance at the festival, and this year he’s also assisting with our High School Student Short Story contest, by providing the opening lines and serving as a judge.
Thomas Young  is the author of the novel “Silent Enemy” (Putnam Adult), which follows the characters of his previous novel, “The Mullah's Storm,” in a new suspenseful military thriller. In addition to being the author of three books, Young serves as a Senior Master Sergeant in the Air National Guard and has been a flight engineer in war zones around the world, earning two Air Medals, three Aerial Achievement Medals and the Air Force Combat Action Medal. He holds a Master's degree in writing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lives in Alexandria, Va.
~Non-Fiction~
John Feinstein  is a national best-selling author and one of America’s most prolific and beloved sports writers. His books, “A Season on the Brink” and “A Good Walk Spoiled” are two of the biggest-selling non-fiction sports books in publishing history. His latest book, “One on One: Behind the Scenes with the Greats in the Game” (Putnam Adult), shares details of his interviews and experiences in the professional sports world. Feinstein is a regular commentator on radio and television sports programs, including ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters,” NPR’s "Morning Edition" and the Golf Channel. His columns appear in The Washington Post, where he spent a number of years as a staff reporter. Feinstein has written more than 20 books on sports and the athletes who play them, and a mystery series for children.
Marvin and Deborah Kalb  are a father-daughter journalism team who joined forces to write their new book, “Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency from Ford to Obama” (Brookings Institution Press). Marvin Kalb's journalism career covers 30 years of award-winning reporting and commentary for CBS and NBC News, including a stint as host of “Meet the Press.” He is a Guest Scholar in the Foreign Policy Program at Brookings and the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice (Emeritus) at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Deborah Kalb followed in her father's footsteps as a journalist and has reported for the Gannett News Service, Congressional Quarterly, U.S. News & World Report and The Hill.
Jim Lehrer  is best known as the former news anchor for “NewsHour” on PBS and for his role as a frequent debate moderator during presidential elections. In his latest book, “Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to McCain-Obama” (Random House), he tells the inside story of what he calls the “major moments” and “killer questions” that defined major televised debates both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. He has written 28 non-fiction and fiction books, drawing from his experiences and interests in history and politics.
Luis Carlos Montalván  is the author of “Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him” (Hyperion), a New York Times best-seller. Montalván served in the U.S. Army for 17 years, earning the Combat Action Badge, two Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart. Montalván has a Master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. His articles have appeared in publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post.
David O. Stewart i s a historian whose third book, “American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America” (Simon & Schuster), tells the story of America's third vice president as a daring, and perhaps deluded, figure who shook the nation’s foundations in its earliest, most vulnerable decades. The book follows his well-received books, “The Summer of 1787” and “Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy.” Stewart is a Washington, D.C.-based constitutional lawyer, and it is his love of the intricacies of the law that drew him to write non-fiction books on subjects in American history that have shaped or tested the constitution.
Tim Wendel  is the author of "Summer of '68: The Season That Changed Baseball - and America - Forever" (Da Capo Press), due out in March 2012. Wendel's writing has appeared in Esquire, GQ, Gargoyle, The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today, where he is on the op-ed page's board of contributors. Wendel has written nine books and is a journalist and teacher at John Hopkins University, as well as a Pen/Faulkner visiting writer to the Washington, D.C., Public Schools.
John Wiley, Jr.,  is the co-author of the book, “Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind” (Taylor Trade Publishing), a history of how GWTW became an international phenomenon that has sustained the public’s interest for 75 years. Wiley has assembled a collection of more than 10,000 items of GWTW and Mitchell memorabilia – including every American edition of thre novel and more than 700 foreign editions. |
