This was an odd Nationals for me, as it went by in a complete blur. This happens when you launch not one, not two, but THREE new books in three days.
Unfortunately, my summer class began on Wednesday night and lasted until nearly 10:00 p.m. This meant that I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to drive down to Knoxville if I wanted to be there when the show opened at 10:00. Sure enough, a lot of caffeine and slick driving later (with an assist to my GPS), I arrived around 8:30. My buddy Steve Lumpkin (who we must thank for these pics, as my camera went AWOL) helped wheel over some books he took down. Still, it took about an hour to set up for the much-anticipated launch of Johnny Garland's Bagley Book. After a frantic scramble of putting book plates in the Hardcover Limited Editions, we launched the book to great excitement at noon. It was a bit crazy. All day Thursday the Whitefish Press table was hopping; when it ended, I was exhausted. A very fun dinner with Ed Pritchard, Phil Beguhl, and Tim O'Brien and I was back to the room where Lumpkin and myself -- both exhausted -- compared notes for the day.
Friday saw the launch of another book, Rick Osterholt's Shur Strike Minnows. Like Thursday, the table was buzzing and it was busy most of the day. Still, I got to venture out for the first time on to the show floor. It was great commiserating with Arlan Carter, Joe Nelson, Bill Kingsley, Tom Jacomet, and many other friends. Since my camera was gone, Steve took pictures.
Tomorrow: DISPLAYS!
-- Dr. Todd
