Monday Apr 21

Bay Area authors lend words, voices to benefit

By Janet Duca Norton / Society Columnist

The 17th annual Peninsula Volunteers Authors Salon at the Palo Alto Hills Golf and Country Club on April 6 showcased four famous Bay Area authors and honored eight published Peninsula Volunteers authors.

A record-setting 360 guests helped the Menlo Park-based nonprofit organization net $50,000 for its award-winning gerontological programs.

"The sold-out Authors Salon indicates the love of reading in our community and the support for the Peninsula Volunteers" president Mary Young said. Salon co-chairwoman Leslie Wong reported the committee is already making plans for a bigger event next year.
Authors presented prepared remarks, held a question and answer session and autographed their books at the luncheon event.

"The authors were gracious, captivating and funny - transferring us to Paris, baseball diamonds, radio studios and all over the world," co-chairwoman Diane Rosland said.

In a span of two hours, guests got a glimpse into the lives of two famous people, learned about the importance of place in fiction, and gained insight into how statistics can affect baseball players' lives forever.

Panel moderator Lolly Winston, author of the best-selling novels "Happiness Sold Separately" and "Good Grief," gave lively introductions, segueing from "Grief" to Pat Montandon's autobiography "Whispers From God."

Former San Francisco socialite and Examiner columnist Montandon talked about the experience of reinventing herself at 50 into a humanitarian with the establishment of the Children as the Peacemakers Foundation. "We all want our lives to have meaning," Montandon said.

During the course of 37 trips around the world and meeting 26 world leaders, Montandon not only received the U.N. Peace Messenger Award, she achieved contentment and inner peace. It was a fascinating personal story.

San Francisco novelist Cara Black, author of the best-selling Aimee Leduc murder mystery series, provided an entertaining insight into the link between personal experience and storytelling, saying, "Stories happen to storytellers."

Black's latest book, "Murder in the Rue de Paradis," took the detective heroine to the Left Bank, where the author's mother actually lived in the 1940s. She talked about how her stories, all set in different arrondissements of Paris, start with a sense of place.

Michael Krasny, KQED radio host of the award-winning news and public affairs program "Forum," juxtaposed his personal aspiration to be a great novelist with the reality of his life, becoming a university professor and celebrated interviewer. "Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life" offered a mix of autobiography and behind-the-scenes tidbits about famous people. Krasny talked about the difference between commercial radio and Public Radio and the "no safety net" aspect of interviews, detailing his first interview with Gore Vidal and how he convinced feminist Betty Friedan to return to complete an interview after she walked out during the commercial break.

Known for his Owen Allison mystery series, serious baseball fans liked John Billheimer's first nonfiction book "Baseball and the Blame Game." Billheimer's detailed statistics of famous player errors in championship games required a Power Point presentation. The ultimate sports fan, Billheimer illuminated the fates of famous players, which were determined by the statistics of their worst moments in championship games.

The day's final question, posed by an attendee, asked each author to state his or her favorite word in the context of their books. Without hesitation, Billheimer said "juiced." Black replied "luminous," and Montandon, evoking laughter, said "Barack Obama." Krasny's chosen, but hard to use "eleemosynary" was perfect for the occasion - it described the Peninsula Volunteers accomplishments and spirit of charity.

A special presentation of books by Peninsula Volunteers authors displayed a wide range of expertise, including cookbook author and San Francisco Chronicle baker columnist Flo Braker, Gentry magazine founder and essayist Elsie Floriani, humorist Fran Kearton, memoirist Cythia Wilcox, historian Carolle Carter and childhood educator Bev Nelson, as well as poets Catherine Latta and Mary Lou Taylor.

Applauding the authors and saluting their fellow volunteers were patron Ann Griffiths, past Salon chairs Beverly Nelson, Fran Eastman, Linda Dickenson and Marge DuBois, along with Sue Levy, Jeanne Fischer, Sandy Ferrando, Elsie Quigley, and Nancy and Wiley Carter.

Proceeds from the Books Inc. partnership event benefited Peninsula Volunteers' four quality senior programs and services in south San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, including Little House, Rosener House, Meals on Wheels, and Crane Place and Partridge-Kennedy Apartments. For 61 years, Peninsula Volunteers' mission has been to ensure that those who helped build our community may continue to live with purpose and dignity.


Janet Duca Norton's society column appears every Sunday in the Daily News. Send event information to 255 Constitution Dr., Menlo Park, CA 94025 or e-mail society@paloaltodailynews.com.