Books and Authors · herkind.com · The Writing Life

IFOA stories: Ken Kesey teaches me to parallel park, circa 1992

To celebrate the start of the International Festival of Authors (IFOA) in Toronto this week I’ll be reminiscing about my precious time spent with authors over the many years of working in and around publishing.

First up: Ken Kesey at the IFOA in 1992

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Ken Kesey’s parting gift to me, a handmade scarf depicting Native American art, and signed: For Carla – thanx – Ken.

 

This was the festival where we had to make everything about baseball or we wouldn’t get media coverage or author participation! That’s because the Toronto Blue Jays had made it to the World Series – in fact they won it on the last night of the festival – and Toronto was in the frenzied grip of baseball fever.

Just like McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Ken Kesey, who was at the festival with his book Sailor Song, never wanted to be away from a television if the game was on. Read  more

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