The AJC Decatur Book Festival begins in only 93 days!!!  This is the largest independent book festival in the country and one of the five largest overall.  Of the many great festivals held in Decatur, it is the crown jewel (in this book lover’s opinion!).

Over the past six years an incredible variety of writers have given the festival’s keynote address.

The AJC Decatur Book Festival Keynote Speakers

2006    Arianna Huffington, author, political columnist, and founder of the Huffington Post
2007    Kinki Friedman, novelist and humorist
2008    Billy Collins, former U.S. Poet Laureate
2009    Sir Harold Evans, author, newspaper editor, and publisher
2010    Jonathan Franzen, novelist
2011    Colin Meloy (frontman for The Decemberists) and Carson Ellis, children’s author and illustrator

Was there any keynote speaker during the past six years who you found particularly engrossing?

Is there someone in particular you would love to see this year?  (This should be someone who has a book published this year prior to August 31st.)

This Week

Jeff Shaara, author of A Blaze of Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Shiloh, Wednesday, May 30th, 7pm, The Atlanta History Center, free.

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Decatur Active Living’s Greg White writes in…

Decatur Residents Glenlake Pool will be closed on Thursday, May 31 and Friday, June 1 for repairs on the filtering system (removing the old sand and adding new sand to the filter). In the interim please visit the two City of Decatur pools at McKoy or Ebster.  Glenlake pool will reopen on Saturday, June 2 from 10am-6pm.  For additional aquatic information please call or visit www.decaturga.com

According to Arts Alliance Director Angie Macon and a Decatur Police report, multiple items awaiting pickup from the Arts Festival’s Silent Auction were stolen on Saturday night from a tent located near the 100 block of Sycamore Street.  The 20×20 tent had been secured with plastic ties, so the “suspects would have had to crawl under the tent to gain entry”.  The police report listed the following items as missing Sunday morning…

• Jewelry- miscellaneous necklaces- $200
• Sculpture- $300
• Framed and unframed art -painting & photography-$1200

According to Ms. Macon, a majority of auction items had already been picked up during the day on Saturday.  The ones taken were the remaining ones awaiting retrieval on Sunday.

The AJC reports this morning that in the process of “theoretically” balancing their coming year budget, the DeKalb School Board took the idea of closing Fernbank Science Center off the table. Two petitions to save the Center made the rounds over the past week after residents received word that DeKalb School’s budget committee had proposed closing a $73 million budget deficit.

To see what the Board ultimately decided to do to help bridge the divide, click over to the AJC article.

Photo courtesy of Trip Advisor