and my beloved Jean Hegland. I've also met Ken Kesey and he was very nice. (He flirted with me.)

Only two I didn't like: Joan Didion, and Tony Kushner. Both very snobby, and I think Didion was, um, heavily medicated the night I met her.

He was very pleasant and friendly, sort of shy, actually; I could tell from his eyes that he is highly intelligent. His frumpy look is part of his shtick, I guess!

It seems to imply you think intelligence normally correlates with fastidious attention to a wardrobe and appearance deemed impressive by others. I'd say the opposite is more likely true. The more intelligent you are, the less likely you are to value the esteem of people who care how you dress or follow other fashions. Apologies if you were simply making two unconnected statements - one about his apparent intelligence and one about his casual approach to dress.

(Earl Emerson J.A. Jance, Aaron Elkin, James Lee Burke, Anne Perry, Barbara Neely, Phillip Margolin, Faye Kellerman, and a few others I can't recall just now. Oh I also meet William Kent Krueger in Minneapolis) were very friendly and approachable, with one exception: Ruth Rendell. She came off as very brusque and snobbish as she signed books.

Do you remember how James Lee Burke presented himself?

I forget which book he was reading from, but it was hilarious.

probably because of the deep streak of nastiness and misanthropy that winds through her work.

Or a movie star for that matter, except for 5 minutes of Jimmy Wakely, a popular cowboy actor who came to a theatre in town.

When I was a kid, Don Cornell (a singer) appeared at a 5 & 10 in our town. Nobody asked him, but he autographed my history book (5th grade) and sister had a fit when she saw it.

No authors tho. Sorry.

You may have met one, but didn't know it.

Mostly science-fiction. Fritz Leiber was my all-time favorite. When I first met him, his wife Jonquil had just died, and he was not in the best of shape. He was witty and a gentleman, happy to give support to a beginning writer. We corresponded for many years until that dread day in the Nineties when my last letter was not answered and the phone at Geary Street was not picked up. I still miss him.
Harlan Ellison is a very different person. Some find him abrasive and difficult. Personally, I admire his work and his personal integrity. He's a good person who doesn't care about winning popularity contests. We need more people like him!
James Lee Burke is a soft-spoken, eloquent gentleman. I got the impression that he'd be a good person to have as a neighbor.

are right about James Lee Burke.
Does he still do book signings ?

I'm sure there are a bunch, but I guess I've either been lucky or discerning about who I show up to meet.

Some of the nicest:

Patricia Polacco; Eve Bunting; Byrd Baylor; Ursula Le Guin; Ted Taylor; Will Hobbs; these are some of the first in a long list that come to mind.

Also, a published DUer that I got to spend some time with.

Most I wouldn't say were "nice" or "obnoxious;" I spent maybe 30 seconds with them and moved on.

I didn't spend any one on one time with him, but the way he answered questions, made Andy Rooney come accross as a real ass.

He was always my favorite part of 60 minutes, when I used to watch it.

That's the same way I decided I really liked LeGuin; she's the only one on my list that I didn't eat a meal with, or set up and run a workshop with, or some other more time-consuming interaction.

If anyone has watched the AETV series Longmire, based on Craig Johnson's books, I highly recommend him as one of the most down-to-earth and talented authors around. Have attended several of his book signings and he connects with the audience in a most amazing fashion. Also, Portland author Cheryl Strayed's book Wild has been on the NYT best seller list and is Oprah's newest Book Club selection. Can't say enough about her presentations. Like Craig, she is friendly, down-to-earth, interacts well with her audience and converses with each one for whom she signs a book. I consider myself fortunate that two of these authors, Le Guin and Strayed, are fellow Oregonians, and Johnson finds his way here on his tours at least once a year. If you haven't watched Longmire, do so soon. It's a hit!

I didn't hear that LeGuin was in town again. Then again, I've spent most of the summer holed up at home.

Haven't seen your posts lately, so nice to know you're still on the board. Paulina Springs Books sponsors author presentations regularly, and Ursula's are always well attended, as are Craig Johnson's. Glad you're liking Longmire! I'm delighted they're picking it up for another season. Have you attended any of Craig's book signings? He's such a kick! Maybe our paths will cross when he's here again--usually in the summer. I get his "Post-Its" e-mail newsletters to keep up on his schedule. He has a lotta fans in these parts.

Take care and enjoy the sunshine!

Haven't been to a book signing there, though. I ought to pay more attention.

Most I've met at events where they are reading and signing, and if they can do that they're generally pretty decent. I once had an editor tell me that I could not imagine how unfit to be seen in public some writers are, and they are the ones who do not go out in public.

Ones I've met that I've liked a lot: Rob Sawyer, and I sort of count him as a friend; Bob Wilson; Robin Wayne Bailey (ditto on the sort of a friend); Pat Cadigan; James Gunn; Brad Denton. Fred Pohl, Kevin Anderson, S. M. Stirling. These are all s-f writers, which is my favorite field.

I used to live in the Kansas City area and would go to book things sponsored by Rainy Day Books. Let's see, through them I've met Calvin Trillin (who I also met separately through another civic group and he's a true sweetheart), Erik Larsen, Phillipa Gregory, Allison Pearson, Martha Beck, and lots of others.

Sometimes I go to writers conferences, and the writers who show up there have always been, in my experience, nice and gracious. I suppose if you simply connect to a writer in some other way, he or she might be a jerk.

Oh. Once when I was working at National Airport in Washington DC I waited on Norman Mailer. He didn't impress me, but then again, he was simply trying to catch a flight somewhere.

and she was a cool as cool could be. We talked for about 10 minutes outside of a grocery store in New Orleans. I went right to the library and checked out Lost Souls.

Jeffrey Archer (from the UK) and Betty Friedan.

Countless number of horrible anecdotes told about both authors.

If authors are truly obnoxious or unpresentable, their publishers usually don't send them out on tour.

bully their publishers into it. (When they left my office, they were sober) !!

Met him at a reading/talk he did fairly early in his fame. What a sweetheart. Funny, nice, accommodating, and deeply desirous of a crowd to go drinking with him. Alas, I was underage at the time. And there was a blizzard raging that night, so I don't think he was successful in gathering a posse.

I second Michael Moore for nicest too--I was at a press conference a few days after he won his Oscar; he brought it with him and invited everyone (who wanted to) to pick it up. It IS very heavy, just like the startled recipients always say.

Haven't had any bad author experiences, for which I'm thankful.

Yes, James Lee Burke actually has a daughter named Alafair (just like in his novels), she's an attorney and novelist (just like in his novels), and she's sharp and charming (just like in his novels).

a science fiction convention. And among the several authors I met Steven Gould and Connie Willis stand out as friendly and nice. Connie especially.

Plus, I love every single thing I have ever read by either one of them.

read him/her the same again ...

Good for you...

Barbara Ehrenreich -- I took a 1970s era work of hers to a signing, and she was surprised that I could find a copy.

Karen Abbott -- passionate about her topic and funny

Neil Gaiman -- witty and hilarious. Used the word fuck in a church and brought the house down.

Sorry, I've just lost a lot of respect for Neil Gaiman. Especially if it wasn't his church/religion, if he was a guest... I'm no Bible-thumper but that's ridiculously disrespectful, I don't care whose house of worship he's a guest at.

Far, far less than noteworthy were Amy Tan & Olympia Dukakis -- ugh, they can keep each other company somewhere else.

Hillary Clinton was AWESOME in person, and I'm not just saying that b/c I'm preaching to the choir here.



Nicholas Evans (The Horse Whisperer, The Loop, etc.) was also fabulous; engaging speaker, genuinely pleasant, friendly, accessible.

Dave Barry was another joy, just as funny in person!! Ridley Pearson seemed sweet, quieter, great combination

Isaac Asimov was another huge priviledge, many years ago. Down-to-earth (no pun), seemed kind as well as brilliant. Wish he was still around.

Admittedly, I haven't met many authors for comparison, but she was very nice. I won a copy of her book and when it couldn't be delivered by mail (I'd entered the address wrong), she hand delivered it to me. Very sweet person.

Nina Bawden was a British children's author probably not well known in the US but she wrote books for children over several decades. She visited my school in the late 1980s and was just a really nice, sweet, kind woman and I'll never forget the warm smile she gave me as she signed an autograph woman. Her books were good as well. Tragically, she died just last month

John Dean was the former Nixon White House aide jailed for Watergate who then turned into an author. I met him at after he gave a talk while visiting Australia. Very friendly and warm.

Andrew Wilkie won't be known to American audiences predominantly but he is a former intelligence officer who resigned and turned whistleblower in response to Australia's involvement in the Iraq War. He subsequently became a politician. I met him at a book signing and he was very amiable and, despite the fact that he was in a hurry and had a lot of books to get through, he answered my questions in depth and was very nice

In terms of being obnoxious, I wouldn't classify Roald Dahl in that category but he was very eccentric and his behavior was slightly off-putting when he visited our school in the late 1980s. He initially refused to give a talk to the junior school students at our school and only wanted to have an audience with the senior students at our school (thankfully our headmistress talked him out of that or I would never have seen him). Then when he spoke to our school assembly, he was very witty and entertaining but he was also slightly impatient with us and got annoyed when we laughed either too loudly or too long at one of his jokes. And, traditionally authors who came and visited our school allowed children to come up to them and have their books signed. But Roald Dahl declined to allow us to do that (although he did sign his books in our school library)

At the time I thought he was a bit obnoxious. With the benefit of hindsight and maturity, I'm inclined to be a lot more generous to him. He was about 70 at the time and it was just two years before his death. I can imagine that interacting with a bunch of young and over-hyped kids might not be the most pleasant of experiences. And, whatever my grievances with him, it was still a remarkable privilege and a pleasure to be able to see such a great author in person and that to me outweighs anything negative about my impressions of him

on PBS and the impression I got was the same as yours.