Biographers to be among authors appearing at Book Fair Nov. 13

If you're a fan of biographies, you're in for a treat at the National Press Club's 35th annual Book Fair & Authors' Night on Tuesday Nov. 13, from 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

You'll have a chance to meet the likes of Clint Hill, author of “Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir,” and Bob Spitz, author of “Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child.”

Also appearing will be Stephen Shepard, editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek for more than 20 years, with his new book, “Deadlines and Disruption: My Turbulent Path from Print to Digital,” as well as Bay Buchanan, author of “Bay and Her Boys: Unexpected Lessons I Learned as a (Single) Mom.”

And that's only a partial listing.

The event is a fundraiser for he National Press Club's Journalism Institute, a 501 (c) (3) organization that provides training, research and resources for news professionals and scholarships for the next generation of journalists.

For a tax deductible contribution of $25, you can become a "Friend of the Book Fair." You will receive a complimentary raffle ticket ($10 value) for a chance to win one of a group of exciting prizes.

Your ticket may be THE ticket that wins one of these prizes -- gift certificates that range from Georgetown Cupcake, Chef Geoff's, Clyde's, Hillwood Estate, and Landmark Theater to a curator's private tour of National Portrait Gallery and Dodona Manor.

Click here to become a Friend of the Book Fair.

Admission to the 35th annual fair is free for Club members, $10 for non-members.

No outside books are permitted. A full list of participants is listed on the Club's websitelisted.

Authors in the Memoir/Biography category include:

Frederic Block “Disrobed: An Inside Look at the Life and Work of a Federal Trial Judge” $29.95


Get an inside look at the life and trials of Federal District Court Judge Frederic Block, whose bench sits in the heart of New York City. The book provides an accessible perspective behind some of the most newsworthy and sensational cases of the last 20 years. Block discusses the death penalty, racketeering, gun laws, drug laws, discrimination laws, race riots, terrorism, and foreign affairs, as well as the more humbling aspects of being a man on the bench.

Bay Buchanan “Bay and Her Boys: Unexpected Lessons I Learned as a (Single) Mom” $25


Twenty-three years ago, Bay Buchanan was thrown – or as she says, dumped – into the world of single parenting. She writes of her experiences – mistakes she made and rules that worked – in the hopes of encouraging mothers to make success at home their first priority in life. Buchanan also wants to change the national dialogue about single moms with a shot across the bow of both conservatives and liberals.

Arun Chaudhary “First Cameraman: Documenting the Obama Presidency in Real Time” $30

Arun Chaudhary, who began pictorially chronicling Barack Obama’s journey to the White House in the early months of the 2008 campaign, likens himself to Obama’s wedding videographer, as "if every day was a wedding with the same groom but a constantly rotating set of hysterical guests." He captured moments ranging from Obama throwing warm-up pitches inside Busch Stadium before the All-Star game to comforting a grieving teenager whose father had died in a devastating tornado.

Jon Friedman “Forget About Today: Bob Dylan’s Genius for (Re)invention, Shunning the Naysayers, and Creating a Personal Revolution” $15

Bob Dylan has been a pop culture mainstay for more than 50 years as a poet, songwriter and performer. Yet from his decision to go electric while everyone clung to his folk roots to his shocking appearance on a Victoria’s Secret commercial, critics have predicted Dylan’s demise every step of the way. Each time, he’s proven legions of doubters wrong, never letting anyone keep him from accomplishing goals—on his terms. Featuring exclusive insights from Dylan’s most trusted confidants, Friedman provides a unique look at Dylan’s life and career while it distills valuable advice from one of the music world’s most revolutionary artists and entrepreneurs.

Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin “Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir” $26


For four years, from the election of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in November 1960 until after the election of Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Clint Hill was the Secret Service agent assigned to guard the glamorous and intensely private Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. During those four years, he went from being a reluctant guardian to a fiercely loyal watchdog and, in many ways, her closest friend.

Jeff Himmelman “Yours in Truth: A Personal Portrait of Ben Bradlee” $27


Ben Bradlee told Jeff Himmelman in March 2010 that he didn’t “give a [expletive deleted] what you write about me.” Granted unprecedented access to Bradlee and his colleagues, friends, and private files, Himmelman draws on never-before-seen internal Washington Post memos, correspondence, personal photographs, and private interviews to trace Bradlee’s 45-year career—from his early days as a press attaché in postwar Paris through the Pentagon Papers, Richard Nixon’s resignation, the Janet Cooke fabrication scandal and beyond.

Rear Admiral Terry McKnight “Pirate Alley: Commanding Task Force 151 Off Somalia” $29.95

Rear Admiral Terry McKnight, USN (Ret.) served as Commander, Counter-Piracy Task Force-Gulf of Aden. He wrote the first draft of the Navy's handbook on fighting piracy while serving as the initial commander of Combined Task Force 151, an international effort to deploy naval vessels from several nations in a manner designed to prevent piracy in the Gulf of Aden and farther out into the Indian Ocean. McKnight personally commanded operations that disrupted several hijackings in progress, and resulted in the capture of sixteen Somali pirates.

Lynn Povich “The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued their Bosses and Changed the Workplace” $25.99

In the 1960s, Newsweek was famous for it’s civil rights coverage. But for women journalists the magazine was a dead end. Women were writers and researchers, but not editors. On March 16, 1970, the day it ran a cover story on the fledgling feminist movement, 46 Newsweek women filed the first-ever hiring and discrimination suit by women jounalists. Lynn Povich, one of the ringleaders, chronicles the story and brings it forward, telling why changes in the law haven’t solved everything for female journalists.

Stephen Shepard “Deadlines and Disruption: My Turbulent Path from Print to Digital” $20

Editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek for more than 20 years, Stephen Shepard helped transform the magazine into one of the most respected voices of its time. But after his departure, he saw it collapse — another victim of the digital age. In "Deadlines and Disruption," Shepard recounts his five decades in journalism—a time of radical transformations in the way news is developed, delivered, and consumed.

Bob Spitz “Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child” $29.95

Julia Child’s first exposure to the American public came when she cooked an omelet on a hot plate on a local TV station. The warble-voiced doyenne of television cookery soon became an iconic cult figure and joyous rule-breaker as she touched off the food revolution that has gripped America for more than fifty years. This in-depth biography comes on what would have been Child’s 100th birthday.

Sara Mansfield Taber “Born Under an Assumed Name: The Memoir of a Cold War Spy’s Daughter” $29.95

Taber details her exotic childhood as the daughter of a covert CIA operative. “Born Under an Assumed Name” portrays the thrilling and confusing life of a girl growing up abroad in a world of secrecy and diplomacy—and the heavy toll it takes on her and her father.

Etan Thomas “Fatherhood: Rising to the Ultimate Challenge” $25.95

The beloved NBA player, poet, youth advocate, and devoted dad speaks from his heart on what matters most in his life: being there for his children. As a highly respected player in the NBA and a leading participant in President Obama’s Fatherhood Initiative, Etan has reached out to young men (often young fathers) in the juvenile detention system and in local communities. He knows firsthand the difference having a father in your life every day can make—and as a father of three, Etan walks the talk in his own life. Now he brings together a chorus of voices—highly revered professional athletes and coaches, actors and performing artists, politicians and leaders of faith—to weigh in on the importance of being a father in our nation today.