Upcoming readings at City Lights
The following literary events will take place at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.
• Lester Laminack will present his new children’s book, “A Cat Like That,” at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18.
The book is an entertaining tale about a day in the life of an island cat. Follow this big, round cat as she saunters through her island village, stopping to interact with folks at the bakery, the bookstore, the pier. Where is she headed next? What will she find at her last stop of the day?
This sociable cat knows everyone in town and the townspeople know to expect her as she follows her customary route. Young readers can fire up their imaginations with the turn of each page.
When cat-loving illustrator Nicole Wong read this story, she instantly knew just how to depict a day in the life of such a charming feline. The simple text leaves room for children to create their own stories as they engage with the art, and the predictable rhythm of repeated lines will encourage them to read along.
Laminack is Professor Emeritus from the department of Birth-Kindergarten, Elementary & Middle Grades Education at Western Carolina University, where he received two awards for excellence in teaching, including the Botner Superior Teaching Award and the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
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• Brian Lee Knopp will share his new book, “Dreams I’m Never Gonna See: The Takeover of WDIZ Rock 100/FM and Other Essays,” at 3 p.m. Saturday. Jan 18.
The title piece relates the takeover of central Florida’s hottest rock radio station by the Ida Lupino Liberation Organization, of which he was a member.
“Dreams I’m Never Gonna See” features 10 essays ranging widely and wildly, in both subject matter and life experiences: confronting a 1920’s Flapper ghost, shearing a sheep face-to-face with a live wolf, praising his personal hero Philippe Petit and exploring underground Disney World circa 1979.
Knopp is the author of the acclaimed 2009 memoir “Mayhem in Mayberry: Misadventures of a P.I. in Southern Appalachia,” which was a SIBA Award finalist featured on C-SPAN and the top seller in 2010 at Malaprop’s Bookstore — the first time ever that an indie published, locally produced title bested all mass-market and mainstream titles.
He also created and contributed to the popular 2012 collaborative comedic novel “Naked Came the Leaf Peeper.” He has taught nonfiction writing for the Great Smokies Writing Program. His work has also appeared in Hippocampus Magazine, Stoneboat Journal, WNC Magazine, Now & Then: The Appalachian Magazine, The Great Smokies Review and in several regional magazines/anthologies.
Both readings are free and open to the public. For more information, click on citylightsnc.com or call 828.586.9499.
