CONTACT:    LEE COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM
                    Heather O’Connell, Public Information Coordinator
                    (941) 479-4629 Office
                    (941) 479-4631 Fax

2002 Lee County Reading Festival

Join the Lee County Library System and our proud community sponsors for our Third Annual Lee County Reading Festival Saturday, March 9, 2002, 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m., in Centennial Park, Fort Myers. Admission is free and there will be authors and activities for all ages. Authors will be speaking in the Harborside Convention Center, as well as the park.

More than 14,000 people attended the Second Annual Reading Festival (2001) to help us "Celebrate the Power of Reading!"

This year, the attending authors include: Sue Grafton, whose Kinsey Millhone (Alphabet) series is an international best seller (A is For Alibi, P is For Peril); Oprah’s Book Club author, Elizabeth Berg, (Open House, Never Change); Michael Connelly ( A Darkness More Than Night); Robert Newton Peck ( A Day No Pigs Would Die); Lois Duncan ( I Know What You Did Last Summer); and Evelyn Coleman, author of several award winning children’s books and the new adult thriller (What a Woman’s Gotta Do). The festival will also feature popular Florida authors: Gerald Hausman, Debra Knight and many more. The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented personally to international best selling author, Peter Matthiessen, who will read from his current bestseller: The Birds of Heaven, Travels with Cranes and from The Watson Trilogy, his historical fictional account of murder in the Everglades.

Other highlights of the Reading Festival include author panels, storytelling, a story book character parade, crafts, puppet shows, street theater performances and music for all ages. Community organizations and a variety of vendors will be on site.

Every child attending the Reading Festival will receive a free book!

Presented by the News-Press and the Foundation for the Lee County Library System.

For more information contact:

Heather O’Connell, 2002 Reading Festival Organizer
Community Relations Coordinator, Lee County Library System
Phone: (941) 479-4629
Fax: (941) 479-4631
E-mail: hoconnell@leegov.com

2050 Central Avenue, Fort Myers, FL 33901 • (941) 479-4620 • Fax (941) 479-4631 • TTY (941) 479-4633

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