Often referred to as the “Rolls-Royce” of its kind, this year’s 12th annual San Diego Jewish Book Fair, featuring close to 46 writers, journalists and commentators, will be held Thursday, Nov. 2, through Wednesday, Nov. 8, at the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture’s Jacobs Family Campus at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center (JCC), 4126 Executive Drive.
“It’s a nice way to keep literacy alive in the world,” said Judith Anderson, public relations coordinator. “It’s really just a rare opportunity because we bring in such well-known speakers.”
With a completely new lineup of authors and thousands of different book titles available to purchase, including recently published novels and those that have been distributed in paperback for the first time, this year’s book fair should have a large turnout, according to Anderson.
The event attracted close to 9,000 people from throughout California last year, with about 4,000 people frequenting the family day event, according to Jackie Gmach, the San Diego Jewish Book Fair director.
“It is amazing to see the dedication of all our volunteers,”Gmach said. “They work very hard and we want to recognize that. We are working with 60 people throughout the year who are all dedicated to specific projects. It becomes an involvement at a large level.”
Many large corporations, such as Target and the Private Bank of Bank of America, were involved in developing the program and providing grants. The companies’ recognition of the San Diego Jewish Book Fair as a community-wide event is important to the Center for Jewish Culture, Gmach said.
Staff and volunteers have been working hard to expand the number of authors and events and are impressed with this year’s guest speakers, Gmach said.
Author Joseph Kanon, whose novel “The Good German” has been turned into a Warner Brothers film to be released in December staring George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Tobey Maguire, will discuss his work during the fair’s opening night, at 7:30 p.m. A book signing will follow.
Three-time U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) will give a talk about her novel “A Time To Run” on Saturday, Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m., and Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, author of “Overcoming Life’s Disappointments,” will appear at noon on Sunday, Nov. 5.
Sunday is also the fair’s family day and will be filled with children’s authors, such as Newberry Award-winner Sid Fleischman, reading from youth books, as well as live music by the California Institute of Music ensemble and storytelling performances.
Authors James Keen, “Inside Intermarriage: A Christian Partner’s Perspective on Raising a Jewish Family,” and Dylan Schaffer, “Life, Death and Bialys: A Father/Son Baking Story,” will hold a parenting panel for adults during family day.
Many people involved in the fair have close ties with the Jewish culture, but that is not a requirement for the event, according to Anderson.
Nonie Darwish, an Arabic Muslim born in Gaza and raised in Cairo, will tell her story about her growing dislike for her native culture’s actions and her decision to move to the United States, which is described in her book “Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror.”
Staff and volunteers expect a large turnout for the event, and ticket sales for speakers have been successful, Anderson said.
“I think this is the biggest one [fair] so far,” she said. “We continue to get higher and higher profile authors.”
Gmach agreed with Anderson, and said the number of people attending the fair continues to grow.
“We have people coming from different states each year,” the director said. “In terms of tourism and bringing people to San Diego, it’s a very interesting program that certainly does that.”
San Diego Center for Jewish Culture is located at 4126 Executive Drive in La Jolla. Admission to Kanon’s lecture is $14.50 for members and $16.50 for non-members. For information on other guest speakers and ticket prices, visit www.lfjcc.org/bookfair. To purchase tickets, call the JCC box office, (858) 362-1348.