Book Group Expo 2006 presents Escape from Hollywood with moderator Ben Fong-Torres featuring panelists Adrienne Barbeau, Phil Doran, and Ron Mclarty.
Part salon, part marketplace, and part marvelous party, Book Group Expo brings together a wide variety of book lovers, and authors under one roof. The Expo is an opportunity for the thousands of serious readers and book group members from throughout the Bay Area to experience a unique interactive program built around reading and discussing literature.
Bio
Adrienne Barbeau
Adrienne Barbeau, author of the memoir There Are Worse Things I Could Do is a San Jose native. She received a Tony nomination for her portrayal of Rizzo in the original Broadway production of Grease, and played the role of Bea Arthur’s daughter, Carol, in the hit series Maude. Film audiences know her best from The Fog, Escape from New York, Swamp Thing, Cannonball Run, and Creepshow.
Phil Doran
Phil Doran's The Reluctant Tuscan is the narrative account of how the author’s wife dragged him “into paradise kicking and screaming” after he’d worked in Hollywood for twenty-five years as writer-producer of shows that included “The Wonder Years,” “Who’s the Boss?,” “All in the Family,” and “Sanford and Son.”
Ben Fong-Torres
Ben Fong-Torres has published six books including his best-selling memoirs, The Rice Room: Growing Up Chinese American, his first collection of articles from his years at Rolling Stone, Not Fade Away and his latest, a second collection, Becoming Almost Famous.
He is also a broadcaster and the radio columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle.
Ron McLarty
Ron McLarty is an actor. He’s been a regular cast member of Spencer for Hire, Cop Rock, Law and Order, and The Practice, to name a few. He’s starred on Broadway in many plays and has been featured in many films. The Memory of Running is the first of ten previously unpublished novels.
The title of this program is a little misleading; this talk seems to have little to do with Hollywood, much less discussion on how to "escape" from it. A better title might have been something along the lines of "Fringe Celebrities Who Write Books." That said, Doran's book sounds like a good read, and McLarty's certainly got an interesting story. Seriously, ten unpublished novels? What's up with that?