Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library

A Book About Motherhood and The Love That Binds a Family 

Dorothy Moy breaks her own heart for a living. As Washington’s former poet laureate, that’s how she describes channeling her dissociative episodes and mental health struggles into her art. But when her five-year-old daughter exhibits similar behavior and begins remembering things from the lives of their ancestors, Dorothy believes the past has truly come to haunt her. Fearing that her child is predestined to endure the same debilitating depression that has marked her own life, Dorothy seeks radical help. The Many Daughters of Afong Moy was an instant New York Times bestseller and a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick.

About the Author

Jamie Ford is a New York Times bestselling novelist and award-winning writer most widely known for his Seattle-based novels.  His debut, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, spent two years on the New York Times bestseller list and won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. This multi-cultural tale was adapted by Book-It Repertory Theatre, and has recently been optioned for a stage musical, and also for film, with George Takei serving as Executive Producer. 

His short story work has been published in multiple anthologies, from Asian-themed steampunk set in Seattle in the "Apocalypse Triptych," to stories exploring the universe of masked marvels and caped crusaders from an Asian American perspective in "Secret Identities: The first Asian American Superhero Anthology," and "Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology." 

His essays on race, identity, love, heroes, and complex families have been published nationwide and his work has been translated into 35 languages. He says he’s holding out for Klingon, because that’s when you know you’ve made it.

Read His Books

Check out Jamie's books from the Library: https://jaxpl.na4.iiivega.com/search?query=Jamie%20Ford&searchType=agent&pageSize=10 

Interviewer C.H. Hooks is the author of the novels Can’t Shake the Dust and Alligator Zoo-Park Magic. His work has appeared in publications including: "The Los Angeles Review," "American Short Fiction," "Four Way Review," "The Tampa Review," "The Bitter Southerner," "Writer’s Digest," and "Craft Literary." He was a Tennessee Williams Scholar at Sewanee Writers' Conference and attended DISQUIET: Dzanc Books International Literary Program in Lisbon. He teaches at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida.

Did you know that all of our Lit Chat authors' books count toward your Jax Stacks Reading Challenge completion? Find out what authors we're hosting this month and join in on the fun: https://jaxpubliclibrary.libnet.info/events?term=lit+chat&n=180&r=days 

---

Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates 

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected] 

Black and Brilliant Local Author

As the sixteen-year-old President of the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP, he was one of the leaders of the 1960 sit-in demonstrations that culminated in the infamous and violent Ax Handle Saturday. Hurst's first book, the award-winning It Was Never About a Hot Dog and a Coke®!, tells that story.

Hurst's fourth book, Black and Brilliant (written for 12-18 year-olds), dives deeper into bigotry, segregation and racism he experienced as a pre-teen and a teenager in Jacksonville. The book also reflects on the legacy of Black America and the many influences on his life that made him proud of his Blackness and piqued his interest in Black History.

About our Guest Speakers

Rodney Lawrence Hurst Sr., is a civil rights activist, a Black historian, a veteran of the United States Air Force and the award-winning author of four books. Hurst is a native of Jacksonville, Florida, and a 1960 high school graduate of segregated Northwestern Junior-Senior High School in Jacksonville. He was the sixteen-year-old President of the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP and was one of the leaders of the 1960 sit-in demonstrations.

Rodney has won countless awards for his books and his civil rights work. In addition to his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, Hurst served two four-year terms on the Jacksonville City Council. He is responsible for numerous "firsts" in the Jacksonville Community. Some being Hurst was one of the thirteen original national recipients of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Television Fellowships and he co-hosted a television talk show as the first Black person in Jacksonville on PBS Channel WJCT.

Read more on his website.

Interviewer TiLena Robinson worked as a middle and high school social studies teacher with Duval County Public Schools for nine years. In her current role as grant specialist she focuses on improving school climate by supporting schools with the implementation of programs that focus on reducing bullying incidents in schools and help students build healthy relationships. She is a member of DCPS's African American History Task Force and works to bring equity, inclusion, and diversity to education. She believes that "You can't teach world history without talking about Africa and how African peoples have impacted society; And you can't teach U.S. history without talking about how African Americans have contributed to the history of the United States."

Featured Book: Black and Brilliant

Rodney believes, "Black and Brilliant young people need to know their Black and Brilliant history and the Black and Brilliant stalwarts who engineered that history. It is never too early, nor are you too young, to understand the plight of those who look like you and what they achieved from the founding days of this country." This book, he says, "Is more than a historical account, it is a call to action..." He hopes that young people "learn from the courage and resilience of those who fought for civil rights, gaining a deeper appreciation for the remaining challenges."

Hurst's leadership as a teenager during the Civil Rights Movement is also the subject of a chapter in the Scholastic book, Ten True Tales: Young Civil Rights Heroes, written for Third Graders to Seventh Graders and ages 8 to 12.

Check out all of Rodney's work from the Library! https://jaxpl.na4.iiivega.com/search?query=Rodney%20Hurst&searchType=agent&pageSize=10

Rodney Recommends

The JaxNext100 award-winning mini documentary, "Unless We Tell: Ax Handle Saturday" features Hurst describing the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP 1960 sit-ins and Ax Handle Saturday. The title was inspired by Hurst's second book, Unless We Tell It... It Never Gets Told!

The film took First Place at the Jacksonville LOL (Loving Our Locals) Film Festival in 2022. It was a collaboration between Hurst, his grandson-in-law, Kyle Dorrell, and his granddaughter Marquiette (Mark-Kita) D. Dorrell and their company, Weighted Sailor.

Note: The 2028 documentary "Ax Handle Saturday: 50 Years Later" is also based on his book.

---

Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

A First Coast Romance

Sheila Athens writes smart contemporary fiction set where the South meets the Sunshine state. Her stories are about women seeking to find the peace we all deserve. Readers are drawn to her work because they believe that everyday heroes can make a difference in our world.

Featured Book: Mae Van Dorn's Perfect Storm

All thirty-four-year-old Mae Van Dorn wants is to live alone. But she soon finds herself living with her estranged brother in a town she's never been to and working for the founder of the local megachurch, though she's as misanthropic as they come. An added benefit of the job: Ezra Watts, the handsome construction company owner who's remodeling the deck at the pastor's waterfront mansion. Between her brother's mysterious past, the pastor's potentially illicit dealings and Ezra's on-again-off-again flirtations, Mae's life spins out of control…and that's all BEFORE Hurricane Carly makes landfall in Jacksonville Beach.

Check out Sheila's work from the Library: https://jaxpl.na4.iiivega.com/search?pageSize=20&pageNum=0&sorting=relevance&sortOrder=asc&searchType=everything&query=sheila%20athens&universalLimiterIds=&materialTypeIds=&collectionIds=&intendedAudienceIds=&literaryFormIds=&agentIds=&conceptIds=&language=

After growing up in the Ozarks, Sheila Athens moved to Florida—sight unseen—with the man who would become her husband. Thirty-five years later, she's still on the shores of the Atlantic, grateful that her two grown sons and their families live nearby.

After many years as a vice president of human resources, she now spends her time ensconced in her quiet little lair, where she reads, writes and communes with the ducks who live on the lake right off her back porch. She loves quiet spaces, eccentric people and the little band of writer hikers who walk at sunrise on a regular basis. To sign up for her newsletter or to schedule a book club visit (either in-person or virtual), go to SheilaAthens.com.

Interviewer Jessica Hatch has a passion for writing genre-blind, character-first fiction. Her work has appeared in such publications as Writer's Digest, The Millions, Fast Company, Neutral Spaces, and Surely Magazine, among others, and her freshman and sophomore novels were published by Hachette UK's Bookouture imprint. Before becoming an author, Jessica worked and interned in New York trade publishing institutions Writers House and St. Martin's Press. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida. Find her at jessicahatch.com.

More Recommended Reading SHEILA RECOMMENDS

Looking for other authors of Southern fiction? Sheila recommends Karen White, Sarah Addison Allen, Mary Kay Andrews, and Kristy Woodson Harvey.

---

Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots

New York Times bestselling and National Magazine Award-winning author Morgan Jerkins will be at the Main Library this October to discuss Wandering in Strange Lands, the powerful story of her journey to understand her northern and southern roots, the Great Migration, and the displacement of black people across America. She will be the first featured Lit Chat author in the Library's new African American History series of community programs.

The project, in part, seeks to expand the Library's African American History Collection and the associated Digital Community Archive and to make customers aware of all the FREE family research and local history resources available to them in the Special Collections Department at the Main Library, including the newly-expanded Memory Lab.

For more information about how you can contribute materials to Special Collections or use these publicly-available resources to trace your family roots, research the history of your home or neighborhood and more, please click on this link.

Morgan Jerkins's most recent book is the novel Caul Baby, an Amazon Best Book of 2021. Her other books are Wandering in Strange Lands: A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots, one of Time's must-read books of 2020, and This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America, a New York Times Bestseller.

As a journalist, she's written about the internet, intersecting social issues and popular media through celebrity profiles and interviews, reportage, commentary, and personal essays. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Vanity Fair, among others. She's won two National Magazine Awards and was a Forbes 30 Under 30 Leader in Media.

Jerkins is also a filmmaker. Her debut short film, Black Madonna, which she wrote and co-directed, was selected at the Big Apple Film Festival, Pan African Film & Arts Festival, and NewFilmmakers Los Angeles. She teaches Creative Writing at Princeton University, where she also holds a Bachelor's in Comparative Literature. She has an MFA from Bennington College, and has taught at Columbia University, Pacific University, The New School, and Leipzig University, where she was the Guest Picador Professor. Based in New York City, she was born and raised in New Jersey.

Interviewer Prof. Tammy Cherry has taught at Florida State College at Jacksonville as an English professor for 22 years. Along with composition classes, Tammy teaches African American literature and honors classes. She is a lifelong Jacksonville resident and recently served as co-host for the WJCT podcast Bygone Jax.

Praise for Morgan Jerkins's Books

"In Morgan Jerkins's remarkable debut essay collection, This Will Be My Undoing, she is a deft cartographer of black girlhood and womanhood. From one essay to the next, Jerkins weaves the personal with the public and political in compelling, challenging ways... With this collection, she shows us that she is unforgettably here, a writer to be reckoned with." — Roxanne Gay

"[A] forthright and informative account. . . . Jerkins's careful research and revelatory conversations with historians, activists, and genealogists result in a disturbing yet ultimately empowering chronicle of the African-American experience. Readers will be moved by this brave and inquisitive book." — Publishers Weekly on Wandering in Strange Lands

"Morgan Jerkins' fantastic, expansive novel of mothers and daughters and Harlem, Caul Baby, is a meditation on the limits of inheritance and legacy. It's also a love letter to a rapidly changing neighborhood."— Kaitlyn Greenidge

Check out Morgan's works from the library!

Continue Reading MORGAN RECOMMENDS

• Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
• Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
• In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
• FEM by Magda Carneci

THE LIBRARY RECOMMENDS

• Dear Ijeawele, or, A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
• Life, I Swear: Intimate Stories From Black Women on Identity, Healing, and Self-Trust by Chloe Dulce Louvouezo
• A Renaissance of Our Own: A Memoir & Manifesto on Reimagining by Rachel E Cargle
• Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
• The Love Song of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
• These Ghost are Family by Maisy Card
• Neighbors and Other Stories by Diane Oliver
• The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

---

Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Mexican Gothic Author Comes to Jacksonville

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic, is coming to Jacksonville for Hispanic Heritage Month. Her latest novel is a historical drama set in Hollywood, following three different point of view characters all tied to the production of a movie inspired by the Biblical story of Salome.

FEATURED BOOK: The Seventh Veil of Salome

1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times. So when the film's mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves. Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood—a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue—make for a sizzling combination.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of a number of critically acclaimed novels, including Gods of Jade and Shadow (Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, Ignyte Award), Mexican Gothic (Locus Award, British Fantasy Award, Pacific Northwest Book Award, Aurora Award, Goodreads Award), Velvet Was the Night (finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Macavity Award), and her newest book, The Seventh Veil of Salome, which was a Good Morning America Book Club pick for August 2024.

Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination. Cachanilla and Canuck, originally from Baja California, Silvia now resides in Vancouver. She has an MA in Science and Technology Studies from the University of British Columbia.

Interviewer Michelle Lizet Flores is a graduate of the FSU and NYU creative writing programs. She currently works as a Creative Writing Instructor at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and co-hosts the What's in a Verse Poetry Open Mic at Rain Dogs. Publications include The NCTE English Journal, Salt Hill Journal, and The Talon Review. A finalist for the Juan Felipe Herrera Award for Poetry, she wrote the chapbooks Cuentos from the Swamp and Memoria, and the picture book, Carlito the Bat Learns to Trick or Treat. Her short fiction is in the anthology, Places We Build in the Universe. Invasive Species, her first full-length collection of poetry, is currently available from Finishing Line Press.

READ

Check out Silvia's work from the Library!

THE LIBRARY RECOMMENDS

• The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
• The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzales James
• The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
• The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
• Piñata by Leopoldo Gout
• Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
• Malas by Marcela Fuentes
• The Death of Vivek Oji by Awkaeke Emezi
• Bad Fruit by Ella King
• Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown
• The Queen of the Cicadas by V Castro
• River Woman, River Demon by Jennifer Givhan

---

Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Zinester Talks Fanzines, Community

Daryl Gussin is a writer and musician who has been awkwardly standing around at punk shows for the last twenty-something years. Thankfully at some point in his late teens, he decided to become a little more productive and has been working on zines, setting up shows, and playing in bands consecutively since then. He's been integrally involved in Razorcake fanzine for the last seventeen years.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR & INTERVIEWER

In 2006, Daryl Gussin became integrally involved in the Razorcake fanzine where he is currently the managing editor. His writing revolves around the honest, bittersweet, and ultimately triumphant aspects of counterculture and its flavorful inhabitants: The heartbreaks, the implosions, and the defiant victories. Community over commercialism, create and destroy.

Interviewer Lindsay Anderson is a prolific zine maker and self-publisher based in Jacksonville, FL. Since 2013, Lindsay has developed a long-running zine project, she has helped to organize the annual Duval Comic and Zine Fest (DCAZ) and recently launched a new quarterly zine Mischief on the River. She's passionate about creating from existing resources and making space for others to develop and showcase their own works.

READ

Check out issues of Razorcake from the library: https://jaxpl.na4.iiivega.com/search?query=razorcake&searchType=everything&pageSize=10

DARYL RECOMMENDS

"A quick list of contemporary LA poets I always enjoy seeing read":

• Ingrid M. Calderón @ingrid_de_lamatepec
• Iván Salinas @el_ivanooo
• Jennifer Vierge Baptiste @wheresmsb

---

Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

Chef Kenny Offers New Takes on Southern Cuisine

Chef Kenny Gilbert is best known for his appearance on "Top Chef" Season seven, where he displayed a big personality and instantly became one of the most likable "cheftestants" to date. He is also the author of the new cookbook, Southern Cooking, Global Flavors (2023), which includes tips and techniques for making international variations of over 100 iconic Southern dishes.

"My passion is food. Wherever I go, whatever I do, that's how I roll." - Chef Kenny Gilbert

Throughout his career, Kenny has traveled the world, staging in some of the top restaurants in Japan, Spain, France and the Caribbean. He has cooked at the James Beard House, participated in wine & food festivals around the country, cooked for the Sports Illustrated Super Bowl party and appeared on the "Today Show," Jacksonville's FOX 30 and in the LA Times.

MEET CELEBRITY CHEF KENNY GILBERT

Kenny joined us for a Lit Chat Interview on Tuesday, August 27, at the Mandarin Branch Library. This program was sponsored by the Friends of the Mandarin Library.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR & INTERVIEWER

An award-winning chef and restaurateur, Kenny Gilbert's career spans over two decades and has graced him with opportunities to travel around the world and learn the authentic techniques and flavors of global cuisines. He has always had a love of cooking. Growing up in Cleveland, but with roots in the South, his father was an avid BBQ man with his own rubs and sauces while his mother was a fantastic home cook. In April of 2023, Kenny released his very first cookbook, Southern Cooking, Global Flavors from Rizzoli.

Interviewer Cindy Sutton and her husband are the parents of three children and are now first-time grandparents. Cindy is retired from the healthcare industry, where she worked for almost 30 years. She has lived in various places across the United States and is an avid traveler who enjoys great food and great wine (and cocktails). Living in different areas around the country and traveling around the world has afforded her the opportunity to eat at famous restaurants and experience the creativity and genius of a lot of chefs. Her husband, David, had the opportunity to experience Chef Kenny's creations in the late 90s when he was at the Ritz Carlton in Amelia Island, and since then they have both been big fans of Chef Kenny and have traveled to other cities just to experience his cuisine.

---

Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]

NOTE: This Lit Chat will only be available to listen to through Monday, October 7th 2024.

Gabrielle Zevin is a #1 New York Times bestselling novelist whose books have been translated into forty languages! Her tenth novel, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, was a New York Times bestseller, a Sunday Times bestseller, and a selection of the Tonight Show’s Fallon Book Club. Tomorrow was Amazon.com’s #1 Book of the Year, Time Magazine’s #1 Book of the Year, a New York Times Notable Book, and the winner of both the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction and the Book of the Month Club’s Book of the Year. Following a twenty-five-bidder auction, the feature film rights to Tomorrow were acquired by Temple Hill and Paramount Studios.

Zevin's thoughtful, funny events bring audiences into her writing process as she shares her techniques for writing unforgettable characters, how games are integrally linked to story, and the irreplaceable relationships forged in local literary communities. Zevin’s novel The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry also spent many months on the New York Times Best Seller List. A.J. Fikry was honored with the Southern California Independent Booksellers Award for Fiction, the Japan Booksellers’ Prize, among other honors. A.J. Fikry is now a feature film with a screenplay by Zevin.

She has also written children’s books, including the award-winning Elsewhere. Zevin is a graduate of Harvard University. She lives in Los Angeles.

---

Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates 

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected] 

NOTE: This Teen Lit Chat will only be available to listen to through Monday, October 7th 2024.

Born in Washington, DC, and raised in Maryland, Jason Reynolds first found inspiration in rap and began writing poetry when he was nine years old. He went on to publish several poetry collections before publishing his first novel, When I Was the Greatest, which won the Corretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. He has since written numerous award-winning novels, including All American Boys, the Track series, Patina, Sunny, For Everyone, Miles Morales-Spiderman, and As Brave As You, which won the Kirkus Prize, an NAACP Image Award, and the Schneider Family Book Award. He is also the author of Long Way Down, a novel in verse which was named a Newberry Honor book, a Printz Honor Book, and best young adult work by the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Awards. 

He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, and various media outlets. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC. For more information, follow Jason @jasonreynolds83 on Instagram and X (Twitter).

This Teen Lit Chat was presented as part of Jax Book Fest 2024.

---

Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates 

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected] 

Dean Butler is an actor, producer, and director best known for his role as Almanzo Wilder (the man Laura Ingalls married) in Little House on the Prairie, based on the beloved Little House book series written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. He appeared in the final four seasons of the show, the spin-off show Little House: A New Beginning, and the three post-series TV movies. He was also a producer for NBC Golf's Emmy-nominated series Feherty for over ten seasons.

"The idea of being a cowboy and riding horses began for me at our family ranch in northern California," Dean Butler says. "In this picture, I'm holding our horse, Cricket, with my sister Meg in the saddle. Those beautiful summer days in the country with my family all around me shaped my entire life and prepared me for what was to come in the years ahead."

Now, on the occasion of Little House on the Prairie's 50th Anniversary in 2024, he's sharing the details of his young life as an aspiring cowboy and what he learned from Michael Landon in touching a new memoir.

READ

Check out Prairie Man from the library!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR & INTERVIEWER

Cast just before his twenty-third birthday, Dean Butler joined Little House on the Prairie halfway through its run, gaining instant celebrity and fans' enduring affection. Ironically, when the late, great Michael Landon remarked that Little House would outlive everyone involved in making it, Butler deemed it unlikely. Yet for four decades and counting, Butler has been defined in the public eye as Almanzo Wilder—a role he views as the great gift of his life.

Interviewer Devan Stuart Lesley is a longtime journalist and owner of Legacy Talent Group, representing actors and models throughout the Southeast. Her expansive media career experience includes print, radio, and TV journalism; commercial, news, documentary, and independent film producing; assistant directing; acting; and voice-over. She is a freelance correspondent for People magazine and founder of Stuart Media, LLC specializing in corporate media. As a volunteer, Lesley is co-founder and past President of the Norman Studios Silent Film Museum, a 501c3 nonprofit organization working to restore and reopen Jacksonville's sole remaining silent film studio complex, where some of the nation's first African American-cast films were produced. She also is a member of the Jacksonville Mayor's Commission on Motion Picture, Television, and Commercial Production; Film Florida's Marketing & Communications Committee and Industry & Association Council; Women in Film and Television's Jacksonville, FL and New York chapters; and the Northeast Florida Press Club.

THE LIBRARY RECOMMENDS

More memoirs from the Little House on the Prairie cast:

• Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim
• Lessons from the Prairie by Melissa Francis
• Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert
• The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House by Melissa Sue Anderson

---

Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates

Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: [email protected]