A Feast For Book Lovers

Volunteers at the annual Sonoma County Book Festival already know about the power of books to inspire and explain the human condition.

That's why they'll be rolling up their sleeves Sept. 20 for the ninth annual festival, where 60 authors join 60 exhibitors to put great stories within arm's length of potential readers. With free admission, including author talks, panel discussions and activities for all ages, the gathering is the literate person's nirvana, made possible by volunteers.

"I serve because I am passionate about books, authors and reading. These folks share my distress with the slow decline of literacy . . .," said Sonoma County poet Armando Garcia-Dávila, the logistics guru of the event.

The honored poet who calls himself a "blue-collar" poet, is happy to coordinate all the hammer-and-nail activities the day requires. He's also a whiz on setting up podiums and microphones -- all in the name of sharing stories.

His favorite books include "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Indeed, at youth poetry slams, "To Kill a Mockingbird" is one of his favorite prizes to hand out.

"When Atticus shoots the rabid dog, the author's metaphor for racism in the South, it swept me off my feet. It grapples with issues in society in language so plain even a child can understand it," he said.

But the book that holds a special place in his heart has to be Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables." His father told him the story by heart, over the kitchen table on "one magic night."

"I grew up among seven kids and we never had our parents all to ourselves. My father was a truck driver, a working stiff. He knew the story well and was able to retell it in one evening. I was so blown away," Garcia-Davila said.

For former teacher J.J. Wilson, who has volunteered since the event's debut, working with "book addicts" is fun in itself.

"This event is for everyone, the passersby, the people who enjoy meeting authors in person, the poetry buffs, the bargain hunters. Best of all, it's fun for children and teens. We have so many events for them in the Children's Tent and the ArtBus," she said.

Her favorite book?

"The Waves" by Virginia Woolf. It's a very democratic book. Everyone gets their say . . . and the language is so excruciatingly beautiful," she said.

This year's authors featured at the open-air event in Santa Rosa's Old Courthouse Square include: Cristina Garcia, Jonah Raskin, David Harris, Julia Whitty, Tobias Wolf, Norman Solomon and more. Panels include: "Writers Teaching Writing," "Everybody Loves a Mystery" and "Writing Truth: Local History with Gaye LeBaron."

The festival welcomes a new executive director this year, Justin Higgs, who is also general manager at Snoopy's Home Ice.

The Sonoma County Book Festival supports local independent booksellers, including Copperfield's, Reader's Books, River Reader and North Light Books.

Another volunteer who served on the original organizing committee is librarian Karen Petersen of the Mahoney Library at Santa Rosa Junior College's Petaluma campus. Her favorite book is Margaret Mead's autobiography, "Blackberry Winter," which she has read several times and often recommends to others. "As a librarian, my interest in growing the community of readers and writers was fundamental . . . To be able to come out and see, meet, hear authors read, ask questions, get autographs -- all are powerful ways of connecting with literature," Petersen said.

For a newbie volunteer like Cathy Balach, an aspiring author who has been working behind the scenes ramping up for the big day, the book festival is just the tip of the iceberg.

"The joy of this event is it's really more than the festival. Everything this group does encourages literacy and the literary arts all year round," she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Rayne Wolfe at 521-5240 or rayne.wolfe@pressdemocrat.com.