This story comes from Texas Standard.
There’s a popular kids book by Beverly Cleary titled Ramona Quimby, Age 8. It’s the sixth book in the Ramona series. In it, the struggling pre-adolescent protagonist proclaims that the best part of third grade is the time when you can “drop everything and read.”
Well that sentiment’s not just for precocious book characters or little kids, either.
This Sunday marks the first ever Drop Everything and Read Texas Day or “DEAR Texas Day” – for those of us who like acronyms.
Alan Bourgeois founded and directs the Texas Association of Authors – the group behind this weekend’s events.
On the Purpose of DEAR Texas Day:
“Being a writer, an author, I know that a lot of people are moving more and more towards the electronic aspect and we’re losing readers, we’re losing creative flow. So that was one aspect of it to try to find a way to encourage people to enjoy a book on a given day. The other aspect, as part of the Texas Association of Authors, was to promote Texas authors.”
On Whether Texas is Inspiring to Authors:
“Yes. And that’s because of the wide variety Texas offers. You have people from the deserts, the plains, the East Texas forests, the Gulf Coast – they’re all writing about the areas that they live within. But it’s also the wide mix of people that are here. The industries are just as big as the country is. So you have all these mixes coming and going and people just really enjoy writing here in Texas.”
On the Event Itself:
“April 12th we have 24 cities across the state with 30 bookstores and 86 authors all between the hours, pretty much, between 1-4 pm. They’ll be doing book signings and book readings all across the state. It’s a huge event, it’s never been done before in this context and we’re excited to be able to do it.”
