T-shirt handoff makes Dave Lawrence a member of Team Mother Fracker
For any kind of author — Sue Monk Kidd earlier in the week, or newbie novelist Larry Bud Meyer, this podium is a bit like making it to Carnegie Hall. Books & Books, South Florida’s iconic independent book store. A cherished Friday night slot means a lot. The city was jammed, there was jazz in the courtyard and a buzz in the air. It was quite kind of Mitchell Kaplan to show up in person; means a lot. He’s been instrumental in my early steps into the field of writing and publishing books.
Dave Lawrence, my last and best boss at The Miami Herald, was generous enough to step in to introduce me. For his efforts, he got a Mother Fracker T-shirt from our latest shipment and a second-row heckler’s seat (did well in the role).
B&B’s big room was packed (they brought in extra chairs), and ringers and loyalists didn’t make up the whole crowd. Sure, there were a great many Morningside Mafiosi, some stellar Herald loyalists and assorted friends from Miami walks of life (Leadership Florida, Anne’s celebrity style gury Jay, etc.) Don and Jeannett Slesnick, The Archduke and Dauphin of The Gables, stopped in and endured some ribbing about Don’s beloved Wahoos.
Good engaged crowd, interested in the topic. My kind of people. Book lovers.