The inaugural 29 Palms Book Festival, a free one-day event in the Mojave Desert community with talks, readings, signings and more, takes place Oct. 28. (Courtesy 29 Palms Book Festival)
A book festival with notable authors and intriguing panel discussions is on its way to the desert. Specifically, to Twentynine Palms.
The self-mocking title of the day’s first panel: “Where the Hell is 29 Palms?”
“There’s a bumper sticker that’s popular around here that says ‘Where the hell is Twentynine Palms?’” explains festival organizer Patrick Zuchowicki, who’s owned a home in town for 24 years. “Nobody knows where Twentynine Palms is,” he jokes. “For locals, the phrase rings a funny bell.”
The Mojave Desert city of 27,435 is home to the world’s largest Marine Corps training base and has one entry to Joshua Tree National Park, a favorite place of mine. But Twentynine Palms lies east of Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree, which is where a lot of tourists stop.
“They know Joshua Tree. They know Palm Springs. They don’t necessarily know Twentynine Palms,” Zuchowicki admits.
An active writing community in the Mojave Desert hosts readings and events and publishes a literary journal, but there’s evidently never been a full-fledged book festival until now. Zuchowicki and his wife, Francoise Lazard, own Desert General, a store that sells gift items, novelties, gourmet food and books.
While the desert is the setting for a lot of books, “we realized there was not a book festival in the desert,” Zuchowicki tells me.
That leads us to the Twentynine Palms Book Festival, a one-day event Oct. 28 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Twentynine Palms Community Center, 6547 Freedom Way, and the Corner 62 shopping passage a block away. Admission is free. Learn more at 29pbf.com.
Popular authors, a book fair, signings, readings, talks and panel discussions are on the bill. Besides “Where the Hell is 29 Palms,” a kind of primer to local tales, folklore and hidden gems, attendees will hear from indie bookstore owners, crime fiction writers and UFOlogists, as well as learn about Western writer Louis L’Amour and about nurturing a love for books in young readers.
Novelists, poets, historians, science fiction writers, screenwriters and children’s book authors will read, sign books or appear on panels. Some are established, some are up and coming and some live in the desert.
Among the better known, especially to readers of this newspaper, are Tod Goldberg, Ruth Nolan, Deanne Stillman, Barbara Gothard, Ivy Pochoda and Kim Stringfellow.
The festival has 29 listed supporters and an equal number of writers. Hmm, 29 writers at the Twentynine Palms Book Festival. Was that by design?
“We had 26,” confides Zuchowicki. “We had other requests, and we hadn’t printed the flyers yet, so … .” He adds: “We never thought we would get to 29.”
Never underestimate the desert.
Book fair was history
While we’re yakking about books, let me belatedly say a word about Oct. 1’s Local History Book Fair, sponsored by the Riverside Historical Society and another modest success all around.
I bought a trio of books of local interest, sold several of my own books of columns and sat in on a well-attended talk by Steve Lech about three of Riverside’s oldest neighborhoods. (Based on the level of attention, I believe I can state, without fear of contradiction, that we all found the Wood streets of burning interest.)
It was great seeing some familiar faces and meeting new people. Several former Press-Enterprise scribes were in attendance: Dan Bernstein, Donna Kennedy, Bill Linehan and Gail Wesson. Makes me feel connected to the local newspaper tradition to meet my forebears. If they ever lose patience with me, I ask their forbearance.
The day’s best encounter was with a P-E reader who told me my columns helped her get through the pandemic. Reading about my own worries, irritations and positive experiences, she said, made her feel better. No higher praise could be asked for.
Then there was the cranky fellow who complained there isn’t enough to read in the newspaper. He scanned my table of books, bypassing them all, but took home a free bookmark with my name and picture on it.
Presumably he will use it to mark his place in books by other, better writers.
brIEfly
Orlando Davidson, the author of “Baseline Road,” a detective novel set in early 1970s Claremont, was the subject of a column of mine in February. He’ll speak at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Claremont Public Library, 208 Harvard Ave., courtesy of the library’s Friends group. No need to don a fedora for the mystery writer’s talk: He favors Hawaiian shirts and straw hats.
David Allen says aloha in italics here each Friday, Sunday and Wednesday. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on Twitter.
