The Prince of Tides, the Mother of All Fish, and Erk's Eagles

October is here and, finally, tolerable weather has returned to north Georgia. October is also prime book month in Georgia (fall and spring being the best book seasons, in general). Below are several noteworthy events, of many (Billy Collins was just at Georgia Tech):

Pat Conroy and Cassandra King

On Wednesday, October 6, authors Pat Conroy and Cassandra King will be giving a reading at the Clarkston Campus of Georgia Perimeter College at 7:15 p.m. The event is taking place at the Cole Fine Arts Building, located at 555 North Indian Creek Road. For more information, call the GPC Writer's Institute at 678.891.3275.

Pat Conroy (native Georgian) is the phenomenolly popular author of novels such as The Prince of Tides, The Great Santinni, and The Lords of Discipline. His most recent novel, South of Broad, came out last year. He is also the author of several autobiographical works, including his forthcoming book about his life in books.

Cassandra King is the author of multiple bestsellers, including The Sunday Wife.

Go Fish Center to Open in Perry, Georgia

On Thursday, October 7, the State of Georgia will be dedicating the new Georgia Go Fish Center, which will be next to the Georgia State Fairgrounds in Perry. The Center will open to the public on the following day. The Center will be devoted to all things fishing in Georgia, and is part of Governor Perdue's Go Fish Georgia initiative. A lot of people grumbled about the money to build the Center and fund the initiative, especially in these tight fiscal times. Heaven forbid that we do something to encourage people in Georgia (where one in five adults, and one in four children, are considered obese) to get outside. As an economic driver, one of the recent Go Fish-connected fishing tournaments brought $23.2 million to the Lake Lanier area and Gwinnett County.

One of the dignitaries who will be on hand at the Go Fish Center dedication will be Bill Babb, Georgia author, former Augusta newspaperman, and the world's leading authority on George Washington Perry.

I am certain that all of you are aware that George Washington Perry was the young Georgia farmboy who, in the summer of 1932, took a day off from field work to go fishing with a friend. He caught a largemouth bass that, turns out, was (and still is) the world record holder in terms of weight. That's how an international, multi-billion dollar industry got started. Not to mention the great stories, etc. And Perry went on to become a self-made man, and local legend.

Bill Babb's book, Remembering George Washington Perry, came out last year. You'll be able to pick up a copy at the Center.


2010 Georgia Literary Festival

Presented each year by the Georgia Center for the Book, this year's Georgia Literary Festival will be held on October 3rd on the campus of Geogia Southern University (WOOOOO! GO EAGLES!!) in Statesboro, Georgia.

Among the 25 authors scheduled to speak and autograph books will be Ferrol Sams, Max Cleland, Natasha Tretheway, Phillip Lee Williams, Tina Ansa, Damon Lee Fowler, Walter Reeves, and David Bottoms. And it's all free.

For more information about this year's Georgia Literary Festival, contact the Georgia Center for the Book at 404.370.8450 x 2225.

RMR