More Book Signings!

I’ve been travelling around northern New Jersey for Eat, Drink & Be Wary talks and signings!

July saw one under an arbor at Apple Acres in the West Milford Community Garden, the largest community garden in Passaic County. The garden was lush with fruits and herbs and vegetables, some of which overhung the table that Apple Acres’ proprietress set up for me. Of course I contrasted such a healthful setting with an excerpt from The Joy of Junk Food (of which there was an abundance, I should be ashamed to admit, on the refreshment table).

Bonnie, the author, Deb of the Circus Peanuts & Anne of Apple Acres

I returned to Lafayette in October for a Local Authors Showcase hosted by Black Dog Books.

November brought two appearances. I talked about the realities of being a food writer at the Jefferson Township Public Library and at the Boonton Books and Beyond! Festival sponsored by the Boonton Public Library. These venues had been in my flight path for decades, and it was fun showing up in author togs.

The JTPL event took me to a room I’ve frequented as attorney for the library board (with reps from my client in the audience, for a change!) and as organizer of a Summer Chillers film festival a decade or so back.

Boonton is a charming little town, with a main street on a hill lined with a jumble of Victorian houses and brick commercial buildings of varying vintage. I’ve had wide-ranging connections with the place — acting on the stage of the Darress Theater, a haunted (I have stories) former silent film/vaudeville house the town recently took over, taking architectural walking, reading cards at a now shuttered coffeehouse, indulging in comforting interior Mexican food at Chili Willie’s and my favorite margherita pizza at Top of the Park.

The streets were buzzing with people on the sidewalks when I arrived for the lunch the library was providing for presenters. Before I cleared half of my plate, a event rep warned that a rain and hail storm of Biblical proportions had broken out. With his help I was able to keep my tote bags of books from getting wet but … as the storm cleared, so did the crowds. Ah well. The basement of the Boonton Coffee Co. was a cozy setting, heavy on dog decor, for an intimate group.

At both events I read an excerpt again from The Joy of Junk Food (it’s a crowd pleaser) and threw in some Mariano’s memories for the Boonton audience, which had backgrounds in food service.

Virtual Author Talk Dec. 7

You asked; we’re making it happen! Kathy will be answering questions and reading excerpts from Eat, Drink & Be Wary: Cautionary Tales online.

7 PM ET, Tuesday, December 7. (Time zone converter:  https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/.)

Our host is Noah Diamond, designer of Eat, Drink & Be Wary, Groucho to Kathy’s Mintworth, author, playwright, and clever conversationalist. 

And it’s free! Register here and you’ll get the Zoom info, plus reminders. Got questions for Kathy or Noah? Send them on!

A Champagne Toast

Eat, Drink & Be Wary celebrated its official launch with champagne and sparkling company Thursday, May 27. We met at Flute in Midtown Manhattan, which occupies an atmospheric, below-ground warren of a space that formerly housed one of Texas Guinan’s speakeasies.

The party’s host was Kevin Fitzpatrick, head of the Dorothy Parker Society, one of my fellow Marxfest organizers, and author of a gazillion NYC-centric books. (Might I recommend Under The Table: A Dorothy Parker Cocktail Guide?)

COVID considerations, work and an injury truncated the guest list, but the gathering made up for numbers with spirit, following Spencer Tracy’s fabled description of Katherine Hepburn, “Not much meat but what’s there is cherce.”

Representing the book’s Texas flavor were three dear friends who’ve been partners in culinary (and other) adventure for decades, longtime pals Kelley Loftus and David Miller (who generously supplied the champagne) and Suzanne Savoy, film & TV actress and the photographer of my author portrait.

Joining us were fellow Marxfest organizer Brett Leveridge, who curates toe-tapping tunes of the 20s, 30s and 40s on Cladrite Radio, and Simon & Schuster author Laurie Gwen Shapiro, who chronicled Kevin Fitzpatrick’s mission to relocate Dorothy Parker’s ashes, for The New Yorker.

On W. 54th at Broadway, around the corner from the Ed Sullivan Theater, home of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert