Kim Ricketts loves her some Calvin Trillin!

And now, a brief mash note from Kim Ricketts celebrating our next guest at Words & Wine: Calvin Trillin…

Well, Words & Wine kicked off in January with Steven Johnson, and I have to say – what a FABULOUS event! Words & Wine has found a great new home at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

So, up next for Words & Wine is humorist Calvin Trillin on Monday, February 2.

Calvin Trillin has written about food, sports, family, politics, and New York City life in over 30 books. He has also been NPR’s “deadline poet” since 1990, contributing humorous verse about the politics of the day.

In his new book, DECIDING THE NEXT DECIDER: The 2008 Presidential Race in Rhyme, he takes on all of the “characters” of the last Presidential election, penning songs and poems that poke fun at every single one of them. John Edwards inspires a country music song: “Yes, I Know He’s a Millworker’s Son, but There’s Hollywood in That Hair”; Hillary Clinton‘s campaign a rhyming couplet: “Some pundits wrote that Hil’s Campaign might fare/ a little better if Bill wasn’t there”; and Sarah Palin joins the chorus with her version of a Streisand standard: “On a Clear Day, I See Vladivostok”. Trillin encapsulates in verse every vainglorious speech, gaffe, blatant misstatement or pandering gesture of all of those candidates who felt they could ably guide the free world. (or not!)

Aside from his three books of humorous poetry satirizing Bush & Co, Trillin is a bestselling memoirist, novelist and journalist.

With a career spanning decades, he is perhaps best known for his food writing, as collected in The Tummy Trilogy, American Fried, Alice, Let’s Eat, Feeding a Yen, and Third Helpings. With his beloved wife Alice as sidekick, Trillin traveled the nation and the world, tasting everything from “dangerous bagels to boiled deer penis.” A big proponent of local and regional food, Craig Claiborne touts him “the Walt Whitman of American Eats.”

His work in memoir is both brilliant and heartbreaking. In Remembering Denny, his tells the story of a doomed Yale classmate, and he perfectly captures his colorful and stubborn father in Messages From My Father. His most recent bestseller, About Alice, is a beautiful tribute to his late wife.

If you have ever lived in New York City, you would be especially interested in his novel Tepper Isn’t Going Out, a quintessential NY comedy of one man’s passion for finding a good parking space in the city.

Honestly, I could go on forever! You don’t want to miss this event…

I hope you will join us on February 2 for Words & Wine with Calvin Trillin at the stunning Pan Pacific Hotel in South Lake Union. There will be delicious wines to sip from Snoqualmie Winery, and nibbles to enjoy. Warren Etheredge will lead the conversation, which is sure to be HIGHLY entertaining–and parking is easy and only $5 (*after 6pm) for the evening! Just enter the garage under Whole Foods at Westlake and 9th. Make a full night of it, and book a room at the Pan Pacific for just $129 on event nights – this is a special rate for Words & Wine folks!

As always, RSVP to info@kimricketts.com or call (206) 632-2419. Words & Wine events begin at 6:30pm and cost is $45/person, which includes wine, food, and a copy of the book.

The rest of the winter/spring season will include adventurer Steven Rinella, screenwriter/novelist David Benioff, editor/foodie Ruth Reichl, journalist Michael Lewis, and novelist Andre Dubus III (more info and dates at http://www.kimricketts.com/upcoming.html)—and all of us at Book Events hope to see you soon!

As ever,

Kim