23 Nov November 19, 20, 21 — Trace Goes West!
In traveling to the west coast for three back-to-back readings in Seattle, WA, then Point Reyes then Oakland, CA, I also realized that I had come home. Rick Simonson of the Elliott Bay Book Company and Stacie Ford-Bonnelle of the Northwest African American Museum graciously welcomed and hosted me for a reading at the museum. The visit to Seattle was all too brief, though, with little chance to get the feel of this southeastern edge of the Salish Sea.
The next morning I returned to the place of my birth, flying to the Bay Area. It still amazes me that after all these years I feel such an elemental pull by the sky, land, and sea here. This is a region of origins. Point Reyes Books and the Mesa Refuge co-sponsored a reading at the acoustically wonderful Presbyterian Community Church that night. My voice felt as embraced as I did in that sanctuary. Kate Levinson and Steve Costa (owners of Point Reyes Books), Susan Tillett of the Mesa Refuge, and friends Wendy Friefeld and Gary Thompson were joined by a welcoming audience that included Stephen Sparks of Green Apple Books in San Francisco as well as David Abram.
The nourishing whirlwind continued the following day, spent in the tremendous company of Jack Shoemaker and Jane Vandenburgh and ending with a “flash event” at Diesel Books in Oakland. Serendipity. Wonderful people–Louise Dunlap and Brad Johnson (of Diesel Books) especially, along with Counterpoint Press friends and Joyce Kouffman–all helped turn a “flash” into a reading and conversation. Carl Anthony even came!
Header photo of Elliott Bay Book Company.
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