The Penn Stater Magazine

This Year, Arts Fest Has a ‘Bookfest’

July 6, 2010 at 2:54 pm Lori Shontz Leave a comment

The Helmut’s Strudel booth is back in its traditional space on Allen Street, so clearly it’s Arts Fest Week. I love how the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts mixes the tried and true with the brand new, so I’ll be enjoying myself Saturday when I get some strudel for breakfast and then head up the street for the festival’s latest addition: BookFest.

Yes, there’s a new category of artist this year. Along with the painters, photographers, potters, jewelers, and musicians, there will also be authors. A writer will speak every hour on the hour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, mostly at Schlow Memorial Library.

You can get the whole schedule and more information here, but I’d like to highlight a couple of speakers:

—Christopher McDougall, the “guest author,” will be speaking at 2 p.m. at the State College Presbyterian Church about his best-seller Born to Run, which tells the story of a 50-mile race between  the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, and, as his blurb puts it, “an odd band of super-athletic Americans.” McDougall, who lives in Lancaster County, has previously written for The Penn Stater—you might remember his profiles of David Morrell ’67g, ’70g and Matt Millen ’80, among others, from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

—Lee Stout ’69, ’72g, retired archivist for the University Libraries, will speak at 4 p.m. at our own Hintz Family Alumni Center about his recent book on the Berkey Creamery, Ice Cream U, which we featured in our July/August 2009 issue.

I’ll be at as much of BookFest (and arts fest!) as I can. Hope to see some of you there!

Lori Shontz, senior editor

Entry filed under: College of the Liberal Arts, Hintz Family Alumni Center, State College. Tags: BookFest, Born to Run, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, Christopher McDougall, Ice Cream U, Lee Stout, University Libraries.