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"35th Annual Miami-Dade Book Fair"
7 years ago
During my nearly twenty-five years of living in south Florida, I partook many unique events, including the "Coconut Grove Art Festival", the "Winterfest Boat Parade" (in Fort Lauderdale), the "Air & Sea Show" (also in Fort Lauderdale), the "Delray Beach Crafts Fair", and many others.
But my personal favorite annual event is the "Miami-Dade Book Fair" - held in and around the Wolfson Campus area of Miami Dade College. The 2018 edition (celebrating its 35th anniversary) was held from November 11th to November 18th. I had been to this fair numerous times in the past, mainly to see what sort of books to buy... but also, to see what familiar celebrities I could meet.
I had the rare opportunity of meeting some familiar names, and had my picture taken with them. Here's a list of links of past 'photo-ops' of me with "Book Fair" guests:
Richard Belzer: www.furaffinity.net/view/1968333/
Terry Jones & Douglas Adams: www.furaffinity.net/view/2249675/
Mike Maihack: www.furaffinity.net/view/21943404/
Eddie Pittman: www.furaffinity.net/view/21943603/
Among this year's celebrity guests/authors were baseball great Felipe Alou, actor Justine ("Family Ties") Bateman, NPR host Peter ("Wait... Wait... Don't Tell Me!") Sagal, et al. However, the days and times these personalities would appear would have a conflict with my scheduling, especially since my commute to the fair would be a long one - taking my bicycle from Margate to the Cypress Creek Tri-Rail train station, taking said bike on said train, transferring to the Metrorail station, and finally getting off in downtown Miami.
I could only afford to travel to the "Book Fair" for one day. Ms. Bateman and Mr. Sagal were appearing on a Saturday, and Mr. Alou was appearing on Sunday. I'd chosen the latter individual, in the hope of getting my picture taken with him (so I could share it with my brother Glenn - who is the 'sports enthusiast of the family). But, as it turned out, Felipe's 11:00 AM lecture coincided with another lecture at the same time. That was a lecture about cartoons drawn exclusively for "The New Yorker" (magazine).
The day before I'd left, I discussed this situation with Glenn, who (in turn) told me, "You like drawing cartoons. Go to that lecture... and if you can make it to the end of the other lecture, you can get Mr. Alou's autograph (or have your picture taken with him) afterwards."
That said, I was considering bringing some of my 'funny animal' art to show off to "The New Yorker" lecturers. But since said art was scattered all over my cluttered condo, the only thing I'd brought along instead was a small box of my handmade holiday greeting cards (many of which you might have seen in the 'Gallery' section of my "FA" site)...
Having arrived at the "Book Fair' between 9 and 10 AM, E.S.T., I'd chained up my bike, and had a quick breakfast at McDonald's, before paying my 'Senior Citizen' fee ($5.00) at the easternmost entrance.
Checking out some of the tented venues, I came across a few books I was interested in, including more 'animal stories' by Thornton Burgess - which inspired two of my 'fat furry' renderings of two of his characters:
'Little Joe Otter': www.furaffinity.net/view/11012391/
'Peter Rabbit': www.furaffinity.net/view/11345710/
(And I'm hoping to render newer 'fat furry' drawings of more of Burgess's animal characters in the not-too-distant future.)
Looking at my smartphone, I saw that it was 11:00 AM, and I'd finally ventured to the "Magic Screening Room" (Building 8, First Floor), where "The New Yorker" lecture took place. I'd managed to find an empty chair in the front row, so I could take some close-up digital pictures of the invited speakers.
First up was cartoonist Bob Eckstein, who used a special computer to project some of his previous comic entries to the magazine. In addition to this talent, he's also the author of two books: "The World's Greatest Bookstores: 100 Postcards" and "The Illustrated History of the Snowman". He discussed the latter title in detail, showing off photos of snowmen (some dating back to the 1800s), and talking about even earlier manmade creations from foreign countries...
He was immediately followed by the main guest speaker, Bob Mankoff, "The New Yorker" cartoon editor (who just retired in 2017). He talked about the many works of legendary contributors (e.g. James Thurber, Charles Addams, George Booth, etc.), funny stories about modern-day comic gags (including one that was the inspiration for the "Seinfeld" episode "The Cartoon"), and his current variation of the magazine's "Cartoon Caption Contest" (in which he offers a $100 prize for the best caption). On top of all that, Mr. Mankoff is the author of "The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons: A Semi-serious A-to-Z Archive" - a very large collection of comic gags, in order of their subject matter (i.e. 'panhandlers', 'desert islands', 'animal cartoons', etc.).
When the lecture was over, my mind was finally made up. I'd bought a copy of Bob Eckstein's "...Snowman" book, and (inspired by his lecture on the subject) I'd decided to give him three of my full-color handmade greeting cards of animals building snow replicas of themselves:
"Snow Leopard": www.furaffinity.net/view/1793740/
"Snow Beaver": www.furaffinity.net/view/12279194/
"Snow Porcupine": www.furaffinity.net/view/18570543/
Mr. Eckstein was so blown away by my artwork, he wrote a special autograph inside my copy of his book:
"To Jed, I really like the snowman cards! It was a delight meeting me! Best, Bob"
And he even threw in a tiny snowman drawing underneath said autograph.
Then, Mr. Mankoff looked at me and asked, "How come you didn't buy a copy of my encyclopedia?"
"I would be more than happy to buy it," I replied, "except for two things; (1) I don't have enough money on me, and (2) I came by bicycle. If I'd carried your book in my backpack and rode the rest of the way home, I'm liable to get a hernia!"
But I had promised him that I'd buy his encyclopedia at my nearby Barnes & Noble store (in Coral Springs) before year's end.
Finally, I got a passer-by to use (the digital camera portion of) my smartphone, and have her take a 'photo-op' of me and the two Bobs - which you can see in my "FA" site at this link: www.furaffinity.net/view/29480725/
(Regrettably, I couldn't make it to the other lecture room to meet Felipe Alou, but I'm sure that my brother Glenn would understand.)
After checking out the rest of the venues throughout Miami Dade College, I'd managed to take my bike, and my backpack full of purchases, and me, all the way back home (with only a 45-minute delay at the Metrorail/Tri-Rail transfer stop slowing me down).
All in all, I still had a good time at the "35th Annual Miami-Dade Book Fair", and I'm hoping to have more time (and money) to take in the 36th edition (and whatever celebrities will be there) in November, 2019!
But my personal favorite annual event is the "Miami-Dade Book Fair" - held in and around the Wolfson Campus area of Miami Dade College. The 2018 edition (celebrating its 35th anniversary) was held from November 11th to November 18th. I had been to this fair numerous times in the past, mainly to see what sort of books to buy... but also, to see what familiar celebrities I could meet.
I had the rare opportunity of meeting some familiar names, and had my picture taken with them. Here's a list of links of past 'photo-ops' of me with "Book Fair" guests:
Richard Belzer: www.furaffinity.net/view/1968333/
Terry Jones & Douglas Adams: www.furaffinity.net/view/2249675/
Mike Maihack: www.furaffinity.net/view/21943404/
Eddie Pittman: www.furaffinity.net/view/21943603/
Among this year's celebrity guests/authors were baseball great Felipe Alou, actor Justine ("Family Ties") Bateman, NPR host Peter ("Wait... Wait... Don't Tell Me!") Sagal, et al. However, the days and times these personalities would appear would have a conflict with my scheduling, especially since my commute to the fair would be a long one - taking my bicycle from Margate to the Cypress Creek Tri-Rail train station, taking said bike on said train, transferring to the Metrorail station, and finally getting off in downtown Miami.
I could only afford to travel to the "Book Fair" for one day. Ms. Bateman and Mr. Sagal were appearing on a Saturday, and Mr. Alou was appearing on Sunday. I'd chosen the latter individual, in the hope of getting my picture taken with him (so I could share it with my brother Glenn - who is the 'sports enthusiast of the family). But, as it turned out, Felipe's 11:00 AM lecture coincided with another lecture at the same time. That was a lecture about cartoons drawn exclusively for "The New Yorker" (magazine).
The day before I'd left, I discussed this situation with Glenn, who (in turn) told me, "You like drawing cartoons. Go to that lecture... and if you can make it to the end of the other lecture, you can get Mr. Alou's autograph (or have your picture taken with him) afterwards."
That said, I was considering bringing some of my 'funny animal' art to show off to "The New Yorker" lecturers. But since said art was scattered all over my cluttered condo, the only thing I'd brought along instead was a small box of my handmade holiday greeting cards (many of which you might have seen in the 'Gallery' section of my "FA" site)...
Having arrived at the "Book Fair' between 9 and 10 AM, E.S.T., I'd chained up my bike, and had a quick breakfast at McDonald's, before paying my 'Senior Citizen' fee ($5.00) at the easternmost entrance.
Checking out some of the tented venues, I came across a few books I was interested in, including more 'animal stories' by Thornton Burgess - which inspired two of my 'fat furry' renderings of two of his characters:
'Little Joe Otter': www.furaffinity.net/view/11012391/
'Peter Rabbit': www.furaffinity.net/view/11345710/
(And I'm hoping to render newer 'fat furry' drawings of more of Burgess's animal characters in the not-too-distant future.)
Looking at my smartphone, I saw that it was 11:00 AM, and I'd finally ventured to the "Magic Screening Room" (Building 8, First Floor), where "The New Yorker" lecture took place. I'd managed to find an empty chair in the front row, so I could take some close-up digital pictures of the invited speakers.
First up was cartoonist Bob Eckstein, who used a special computer to project some of his previous comic entries to the magazine. In addition to this talent, he's also the author of two books: "The World's Greatest Bookstores: 100 Postcards" and "The Illustrated History of the Snowman". He discussed the latter title in detail, showing off photos of snowmen (some dating back to the 1800s), and talking about even earlier manmade creations from foreign countries...
He was immediately followed by the main guest speaker, Bob Mankoff, "The New Yorker" cartoon editor (who just retired in 2017). He talked about the many works of legendary contributors (e.g. James Thurber, Charles Addams, George Booth, etc.), funny stories about modern-day comic gags (including one that was the inspiration for the "Seinfeld" episode "The Cartoon"), and his current variation of the magazine's "Cartoon Caption Contest" (in which he offers a $100 prize for the best caption). On top of all that, Mr. Mankoff is the author of "The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons: A Semi-serious A-to-Z Archive" - a very large collection of comic gags, in order of their subject matter (i.e. 'panhandlers', 'desert islands', 'animal cartoons', etc.).
When the lecture was over, my mind was finally made up. I'd bought a copy of Bob Eckstein's "...Snowman" book, and (inspired by his lecture on the subject) I'd decided to give him three of my full-color handmade greeting cards of animals building snow replicas of themselves:
"Snow Leopard": www.furaffinity.net/view/1793740/
"Snow Beaver": www.furaffinity.net/view/12279194/
"Snow Porcupine": www.furaffinity.net/view/18570543/
Mr. Eckstein was so blown away by my artwork, he wrote a special autograph inside my copy of his book:
"To Jed, I really like the snowman cards! It was a delight meeting me! Best, Bob"
And he even threw in a tiny snowman drawing underneath said autograph.
Then, Mr. Mankoff looked at me and asked, "How come you didn't buy a copy of my encyclopedia?"
"I would be more than happy to buy it," I replied, "except for two things; (1) I don't have enough money on me, and (2) I came by bicycle. If I'd carried your book in my backpack and rode the rest of the way home, I'm liable to get a hernia!"
But I had promised him that I'd buy his encyclopedia at my nearby Barnes & Noble store (in Coral Springs) before year's end.
Finally, I got a passer-by to use (the digital camera portion of) my smartphone, and have her take a 'photo-op' of me and the two Bobs - which you can see in my "FA" site at this link: www.furaffinity.net/view/29480725/
(Regrettably, I couldn't make it to the other lecture room to meet Felipe Alou, but I'm sure that my brother Glenn would understand.)
After checking out the rest of the venues throughout Miami Dade College, I'd managed to take my bike, and my backpack full of purchases, and me, all the way back home (with only a 45-minute delay at the Metrorail/Tri-Rail transfer stop slowing me down).
All in all, I still had a good time at the "35th Annual Miami-Dade Book Fair", and I'm hoping to have more time (and money) to take in the 36th edition (and whatever celebrities will be there) in November, 2019!
Tebby1988
~tebby1988
what are snowman cards?
RobCat
~robcat
OP
It's my anthropomorphic variation of comic gags on the cover of my holiday greeting cards, where different animals build replicas of themselves with snow and other props. Future offerings of mine might include a giraffe - using the stovepipe of a pot-bellied stove for the neck of his snow critter - and/or an elephant - using a vacuum cleaner hose for his trunk.
