VaBook!

Participants - VABook! 2005

• fiction
• mystery & suspense
• nonfiction
• poetry & songwriting
• publishing & exhibitors
• youth & family

Nonfiction

Joel Achenbach, author of The Grand Idea, writes for the Washington Post and the National Geographic column "Who Knew?" He has penned five previous books, including Capture by Aliens, It Looks Like a President, Only Smaller, and Why Things Are. 3/18 4 p.m.

Kenneth D. Ackerman is the author of Boss Tweed: The Rise and Fall of the Corrupt Pol who Conceived the Soul of Modern New York. Also author of The Gold Ring and Dark Horse, he has served 25 years in senior posts on Capitol Hill. 3/17 noon

Mark T. Adams is the author of Chasing Birds Across Texas and an astronomer who recently in Charlottesville.  While living in Texas, Mark discovered bird-watching, a passion which  led to the year-long adventure chronicled in his book. 3/17 4 p.m.

Stephen R. Adkins is the Chief of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe. 3/19 12 noon

Ann Field Alexander is the author of Race Man: The Rise and Fall of the "Fighting Editor," John Mitchell, Jr.  She is Professor of History and Director of the Roanoke Center, Mary Baldwin College. 3/18 10 a.m.

William Albert Allard, one of the photographers and writers featured in In Focus, National Geographic Greatest Portraits, has published five books, including Vanishing Breed, nominated for the American Book Award.  Allard has a 40-year association with National Geographic. 3/20 1:30 p.m.

William H. Bartsch is a retired United Nations official and military historian.  His latest book, December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor, received the Arthur Goodzeit Award of the New York Military Affairs Symposium for best military history published in 2003. 3/17 4 p.m.

Neal Bascomb is the author of The Perfect Mile, Higher and the forthcoming Mutiny.  A former editor and journalist, he has appeared in documentaries on A&E and the History Channel and written for the New York Times. 3/17 7 p.m.

Terry Belanger has been University Professor and Honorary Curator of Special Collections at UVa since 1992. He is the founding director of Rare Book School, a UVa-based institute offering five-day courses on bookish subjects ranging from medieval manuscripts to modern fine printing. 3/18 4 p.m.

Art and Lee Beltrone are the authors of Vietnam Graffiti: Messages From A Forgotten Troopship.  Art Beltrone is a former Newsday reporter, and Lee is a freelance photographer whose work has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine and the Retired Officer. 3/16 6 p.m.

Carol Berkin, author of Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence, is a professor of American history at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She teaches early American and women's history. 3/16 6 p.m.

David Broder is the author or co-author of seven books, including Democracy Derailed: Initiative Campaigns and the Power of Money, and Behind the Front Page: A Candid Look at How the News is Made. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for distinguished commentary. 3/17 5:30 p.m.

Meredith Broussard is the editor of The Dictionary of Failed Relationships: 26 Tales of Love Gone Wrong and The Encyclopedia of Ex-Girlfriends: 26 Stories of Irreparable Romances. A graduate of Harvard University, Broussard has written for the Philadelphia Inquirer and New York Press. 3/19 2 p.m.

Andrea J. Buchanan is the author of Mother Shock, managing editor of LiteraryMama.com, and editor of the forthcoming anthologies It's a Boy and It's a Girl.  3/18 10 a.m.; 3/20 1:30 p.m.

Sophy Burnham, author of thirteen books and eight plays, is best known for A Book of Angels, which has been translated into 22 languages. The new edition includes and introduction and several new stories. 3/17 6 p.m.

Paul A. Cantor, author of Gilligan Unbound: Pop-Culture in the Age of Globalization, teaches English at UVa. He is the author of books and essays on diverse subjects including Shakespeare, Romanticism, and literary theory. 3/18 10 a.m.

Eric Cline, author of Jerusalem Besieged: From Ancient Canaan to Modern Israel, is an associate professor of ancient history and archaeology. He is department chair in classical and semitic languages and literatures at George Washington University. 3/17 2 p.m.

Helena Cobban is the co-author of When the Rain Returns: Toward Justice and Reconciliation in Palestine and Israel.  She is a syndicated columnist for the Christian Science Monitor and Al-Hayat, and the contributing editor for Boston Review. 3/17 2 p.m.

Richard N. Côté, author of Strength and Honor: The Life of Dolley Madison, is author of two previous biographies and works of fiction. He resides in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. 3/19 10 a.m.

Mark Derr is the author of A Dog's History of America, Dog's Best Friend, The Frontiersman, Over Florida, and Some Kind of Paradise.  He lives on Miami Beach with his wife, Gina Maranto, and dogs. 3/18 10 a.m.

Kevin Donleavy's book, Strings of Life, is a collection of conversations with old-time musicians in Virginia and North Carolina.  He has taught courses in Irish and Blue Ridge culture at UVa and is a former Virginia Foundation for the Humanities fellow . 3/16 4 p.m.

Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is the author of Full Bloom: the Life and Art of Georgia O'Keeffe. This book illustrates the ways in which O'Keefe was created and almost destroyed by her husband, photographer and art dealer Alfred Stieglitz. 3/18 10 a.m.

Mark Edmundson, author of Why Read?, is the NEH/Daniels Family Distinguished Teaching Professor at UVa. He is also the author of the memoir Teacher and has written for Raritan, the New Republic, the Nation, and Harper's. 3/16 noon

Nicholas C. Edsall, author of Toward Stonewall: Homosexuality and Society in the Modern Western World, is an emeritus professor of history at UVa and the author of Richard Cobden: Independent Radical. 3/20 3 p.m.

Evelyn Edson co-authored Medieval Views of the Cosmos with Emilie Savage-Smith of the Bodleian Library. It compares Christian and Islamic ideas about geography and astronomy in the Middle Ages. Edson is a professor of history at Piedmont Virginia Community College. 3/16 2 p.m.

Bob Edwards, author of Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism, is the host of the "Bob Edwards Show," heard on XM Satellite Radio's public radio channel, XMPR. He  hosted programs at NPR for more than 30 years. 3/19 4 p.m.

Stuart Eizenstat, author of Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II, served as Chief Domestic Policy Adviser to President Carter, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, and in high-level positions in the State, Commerce and Treasury Departments. 3/19 2 p.m.

Sara Ellington is co-author of The Mommy Chronicles with Stephanie Triplett. Sara's advertising work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Charlotte Observer and Southern Living.  She has also written for Think Fast!, a television pilot with Kyle Petty. 3/18 10 a.m.

Karen Jane Elliott is the co-author of the A Taste of series of cookbook/travel guides, featuring historical info and anecdotes about restaurants housed in historic buildings. After Pennsylvania and Ohio, A Taste of Virginia History is the third in the series. 3/17 4 p.m.

Jennifer Riesmeyer Elvgren is the author of if nothing happens.  She's written for many publications, including Country Living, Southern Living, Highlights for Children and Ladybug. 3/16 4 p.m.

Melvin Patrick Ely, author of Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War, is a Richmond native and a history and black studies professor at the College of William & Mary. 3/16 6 p.m.

Lionel Estavoyer is the Charge de Mission/Patrimoine Historique of Besancon, France, the sister city of Charlottesville. He is the author of many books in French on Besancon gardens, architecture, and history. 3/17 2 p.m.

Barbara Feinberg, author of Welcome to Lizard Motel: Children, Stories and the Mystery of Making Things Up, is the originator of Story Shop, a creative arts program for children ages three-14. 3/20 3 p.m.

Ed Folsom is the editor of the Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, co-director of the Whitman Archive, and editor of the Whitman Series at the University of Iowa Press. He is the author or editor of numerous books on Walt Whitman. 3/19 2 p.m.

P. J. Forbes has been developing and studying cookbooks for nonprofit organizations and individuals for over 20 years. She currently operates P.J. Forbes Associates, a cookbook marketing and consulting firm. 3/16 4 p.m., 6 p.m.

Claudia J. Ford, author of Why Do I Scream at God for the Rape of Babies?, has 25 years of experience in international development, management and training. She is the founder and director of the Princess Trust, a South African charity confronting infant sexual assault and violence. 3/20 3 p.m.

Trish Foxwell, author of Historic Hotels and Hideways, one of a series of Washington Weekends books, is a journalist and
photographer who has written for the Providence Journal Bulletin, Persimmon Hill Magazine, and Loudoun Magazine, among others. 3/16 4 p.m .

Ernest B. Furgurson has written four books about the Civil War, including Freedom Rising: Washington in the Civil War. He spent over 30 years as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun, serving in Moscow and Vietnam, and as Washington bureau chief. 3/19 2 p.m.

Gary W. Gallagher, author of Leaders of the Lost Cause: New Perspectives on the Confederate High Command, The Confederate War and Lee and His Generals in War and Memory, is an American Civil War history professor at UVa. 3/19 4 p.m.

Mary Cox Garner, author of The Hidden Souls of Words, has dedicated her life to service in a life-long search for truth. Her book reveals hidden wisdom found in the ancient souls of words. 3/16 6 p.m.

Paul M. Gaston, professor emeritus of history at the UVa, is the author of The New South Creed and other works on Southern and Civil Rights history. He is a former president of the Southern Regional Council. 3/20 1:30 p.m.

Judy Gelman, co-author of The Book Club Cookbook, has more than 15 years of experience in local and national public relations on health and environmental issues. She is a free-lance food writer and a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. 3/17 4 p.m.

Christina Goldstone, author of Come to the Window--Life with Daniela, Our Child from Romania, is a freelance writer on the subjects of adoption and children with special needs. She contributes frequently to Adoptions Today magazine. 3/17 7 p.m.

Malcolm Gladwell, author of the bestsellers The Tipping Point and Blink, has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1996. He was also a reporter for the Washington Post, first as a science writer and then as New York City bureau chief. 3/16 6 p.m.; 3/17 7:30 a.m.

Bob Gooch is a freelance outdoor writer whose many publications include "Lake Fishing in Virginia," "Virginia Fishing Guide" and "Enjoying Virginia Outdoors." He lives in Troy, Virginia. 3/17 7 p.m.

John Robert Greene is the author of Betty Ford, Candor and Courage in the White House. He has written 17 books, specializing in the modern American presidency. He has written about Presidents Ford, Bush, and Nixon. 3/19 10 a.m.

Paula Gunn Allen (Laguna/Metis) wrote Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat. Professor emerita at UCLA, she has written critical studies, essays, poetry books, and a novel. Her awards include the Hubbell Medal for Lifetime Achievement and Native Writer’s Circle Lifetime Achievement Award. 3/19 noon

Sheldon Hackney is a contributing essayist to Where We Stand: Voices of Southern Dissent. A former university president, he currently teaches history at the University of Pennsylvania. 3/20 1:30 p.m.

David Alan Harvey, one of the photographers and writers featured in In Focus, National Geographic Greatest Portraits, is a National Press Photographers Association Magazine Photographer of the Year. David has photographed over 35 articles for National Geographic. 3/20 1:30 p.m.

Wil Haygood is the author of In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr. His biography of Davis won the 2004 ASCAP Deems Taylor-Timothy White Award for Excellence in Musical Biography and the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award in nonfiction. 3/18 10 a.m.

Eleanor Herman's first book is Sex with Kings. She graduated with a degree in journalism from Towson State University in Baltimore. For eight years she was associate publisher for North America for NATO's Nations & Partners for Peace magazine.  3/18 2 p.m.

Susan Tyler Hitchcock, author of Mad Mary Lamb, has written professionally for more than 30 years, contributing to newspapers, magazines, anthologies, and her own books. She lives in Covesville, Virginia and is a contract book editor for the National Geographic Society. 3/18 2 p.m.

Tony Horwitz, author of Confederates in the Attic and Blue Latitudes, lives in Virginia with his wife, novelist Geraldine Brooks. A former New Yorker and Wall Street Journal staff writer, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism in 1995. 3/19 6 p.m.; 3/20 1:30 p.m.

Karen Houppert penned Home Fires Burning: Married to the MilitaryÑfor Better or Worse and The Curse: Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo, Menstruation. Her reporting has appeared in Newsday, Salon and Redbook. 3/19 2 p.m.

Sally Howard, author of Finding Me in a Paper Bag, has a degreee in human services. An adult adoptee and birth mother, she is active in Concerned United Birthmothers (CUB) and the adoption triad community. 3/17 7 p.m.

Scott Huler is the author of three books, including Defining the Wind. His work is regularly heard on NPR's "All Things Considered." He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. 3/19 4 p.m.

A.J. Jacobs wrote The Know-It-All, a chronicle of his endeavor to read the entire Encyclopaedia Brittanica.  An NPR contributor and senior editor at Esquire, he is also the author of The Two Kings: Jesus and Elvis, America Off-Line, and Fractured Fairytales. 3/18 2 p.m.; 3/19 noon

Carol Jenkins, author of Black Titan: A. G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire, is an Emmy-winning television journalist. An anchor and correspondent for 25 years at WNBC in New York, she now lives in Winchester, Virginia. 3/18 10 a.m.

LouAnne Johnson, author of Queen of Education: Rules for Making Schools Work, is a former U.S. Navy journalist, Marine Corps officer, high school teacher, and the author of the New York Times bestseller, Dangerous Minds (originally titled My Posse Don't Do Homework). 3/18 4 p.m., 8 p.m.

Wayne Karlin, author of War Movies: Journeys to Vietnam, Scenes and Out-takes, has written six novels and a memoir. American consulting editor for the Curbstone Press "Voices from Vietnam" series, he teaches at College of Southern Maryland. 3/18 4 p.m.

Jerome P. Kassirer, M.D., author of On The Take: How Medicine's Complicity With Big Business Can Endanger Your Health, is Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. 3/18 2 p.m.

Jean C. Keating is the author  Paw Prints on My Heart and Paw Prints Through The Years.  She writes a monthly column called "Animal Antics" for Chesapeake Style Magazine and a bimonthly column, "Rescue Corner for Pap Talk." 3/17 4 p.m.

Anne Kingston's second book is The Meaning of Wife. A resident of Toronto, she writes a column on social and cultural issues for The National Post. Her writing has also appeared in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Life, and the Chicago Sun-Times Magazine. 3/19 2 p.m.

Joel Kovarsky is a physician and antiquarian map seller. Owner of The Prime Meridian, a map and book shop, he has written on several topics pertaining to the collecting of old maps and spoken on map collecting panel discussions. 3/17 noon

Vicki Levy Krupp, co-author of The Book Club Cookbook, worked for five years as a high school teacher in American history and social studies, and has written articles on history and education issues.  She is an avid cook and member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. 3/17 4 p.m.

Tom Lacombe, author of Light Ruck: Vietnam 1969, runs a country store in Browntown, Virginia. This store has been serving his mountain village since 1884. He grew up around D.C. and moved to Browntown in 1978. 3/18 4 p.m.

Stephanie P. Ledgin, author of Homegrown Music: Discovering Bluegrass, is a journalist and photographer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, books, and recordings. She is also the former director of the New Jersey Folk Festival at Rutgers University. 3/16 4 p.m.

Hilde Gabriel Lee and Allan E. Lee, co-authors of Virginia Wine Country III, are long-time food, wine and travel writers. Their first edition of Virginia Wine country was the first book written about the Virginia wine industry.  3/16 4 p.m.

Daniel Lefkowitz, author of Words and Stones: The Politics of Language and Identity in Israel, is an assistant professor of anthropology and Middle East studies at Uva. His work is based on two years of ethnographic fieldwork in Haifa during the early 1990s. 3/17 2 p.m.

Andrew Lubin, author of Charlie Battery: A Marine Artillery Unit in Iraq, is a professor at the American Military University in Charles Town, W.Va. His son, LCPL Philip Lubin, was  re-deployed to Iraq in June 2004 for his 2nd tour. 3/16 2 p.m.

Charles W. Marsh, author of The Beloved Community, is a professor of religion at the University of Virginia and Director of the Project on Lived Theology.  He is the author of Reclaiming Dietrich Bonhoeffer,  God's Long Summer, and The Last Days. 3/17 6 p.m.

Jon Meacham, author of Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship, is the managing editor of Newsweek, overseeing coverage of politics, international affairs, and breaking news. He has written for the New York Times Book Review and the L.A. Times Book Review. 3/16 noon

Ruth Lyn Meese, author of Children of Intercountry Adoptions in School, is a professor of Special Education at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, as well as the parent of a daughter from Russia adopted at age four. 3/17 7 p.m.

Tom Miller's nonfiction books include Jack Ruby's Kitchen Sink, The Panama Hat Trail, Trading with the Enemy, and On the Border.  A research associate at the University of Arizona, he has written for the New York Times, Life, Smithsonian, and Natural History. 3/19 10 a.m.

Seth Mnookin, author of Hard News: The Scandals at The New York Times and Their Meaning for American Media, is a former senior writer at Newsweek. He's also written for The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, and many other publications. 3/17 noon

Katie Moose, the author of Chesapeake's Bounty II, is the author of cookbooks and guidebooks on the Chesapeake Bay and New England regions.  She has published two children's books. She lives in Annapolis. 3/16 4 p.m.

Christel Nani, RN, Ph.D., author of Diary of a Medical Intuitive, has more than 16 years ER/trauma center experience. She uses her clairvoyant impressions of the past, present, and future to detect with pinpoint accuracy the causes of many illnesses and their antidotes. 3/18 6 p.m.

Sara Nelson's first book is So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading. She recently became editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly; previously she was publishing columnist for the New York Post and New York Observer. 3/18 2 p.m.

Gene Nichol is a contributing essayist to Where We Stand: Voices of Southern Dissent. He is Dean and Burton Craige Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina Law School. 3/20 1:30 p.m.

Michael "Nick" Nichols, staff National Geographic photographer, is a contributor to In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits. His achievements include "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" and "Pictures of the Year" story and image awards. 3/20 1:30 p.m.

Penelope Niven, author of Swimming Lessons, has written Carl Sandburg: A Biography; Steichen: A Biography; and Carl Sandburg: Adventures of a Poet, a 2004 International Reading Association Prize winner. She is co-author with James Earl Jones of Voices and Silences. 3/17 6 p.m.

Debbie Nunley is the co-author of the A Taste of series of cookbook/travel guides.  The books feature choice recipes for restaurants housed in historic buildings. A Taste of Virginia History is the third in the series, with A Taste of Maryland forthcoming. 3/17 4 p.m.

Vanessa Ochs is the author of Sarah Laughed and The Jewish Dream Book: The Key to Opening the Inner Meaning of Your Dreams. She teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at the UVa.  3/17 6 p.m.

Patrick O'Donnell, author of Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs: The Unknown Story of the Men and Women of WWII's OSS,  is an oral historian and expert on America's Ranger, Airborne, Special Forces, and OSS agents. He has interviewed over 1200 of America's elite troops and espionage agents. 3/17 4 p.m.

Robert M. O'Neil directs the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression and Professor of Law at the UVa School of Law. His works include The First Amendment and Civil Liability, and Free Speech in the College Community. 3/20 3 p.m.

Ricardo Padron, author of The Spacious Word: Cartography, Literature, andEmpire in Early Modern Spain, is associate professor of Spanish at UVa.  He is currently conducting research on Spanish interests in East Asia and the Pacific. 3/16 2 p.m.

Richard Panek is the author of The Invisible Century: Einstein, Freud and the Search for Hidden Universes. He regularly writes about science for the New York Times. His previous book was Seeing and Believing: How the Telescope Opened Our Eyes and Minds to the Heavens. 3/19 4 p.m.

Rydell Payne is a community organizer and social worker who is Executive Director of the Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries, which serves the  Prospect neighborhood in Charlottesville. 3/17 6 p.m.

Barbara A. Perry's latest book is Jaqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier, published as a part of the University Press of Kansas's Modern First Lady Series. Perry is the Carter Glass Professor of Government at Sweet Briar College. 3/19 10 a.m.

Lincoln Perry, an artist rated among America’s leading muralists, has been commissioned to paint murals in some of the most important public places in the country. His work can be seen in the foyer of UVa’s Old Cabell Hall. 3/18 10 a.m.

Stephen Pfleiderer is the author of Legacy Story Writing Guide. A former Vice President of Prentice-Hall, he teaches legacy story writing at the Jefferson Institute of Lifelong Learning at UVa, and works as a coach for people writing their memoirs. 3/16 2 p.m.

Christopher Phillips is founder of the nonprofit Society for Philosophical Inquiry and author of Six Questions of Socrates, Socrates Cafe, and Philosophers' Club. He and his wife Cecilia have helped establish globally over 250 Socrates Cafe dialogue groups. 3/18 6 p.m.

Robert M. Poole, author of Explorers House: National Geographic and the World It Made, is the former associate editor of National Geographic magazine. 3/18 10 a.m.

Larry Portzline is the author of Bookstore Tourism, which aims to support independent bookstores. He is a college instructor whose professional writing experience includes journalism, corporate and nonprofit public relations, and government communications. 3/17 4 p.m.

David A. Price is the author of Love and Hate in Jamestown, a nonfiction account of the Jamestown colony and a New York Times Notable Book. David is featured in the History Channel documentary "Secrets of Jamestown." 3/16 2 p.m.

Deborah M. Prum is the author of Rats, Bulls and Flying Machines, A History of the Renaissance and Reformation. She's written for many publications including the Virginia Quarterly Review, Ladies' Home Journal and The Writer. 3/16 4 p.m.

Kevin Quirk is an adoptive parent and author of Hello, Aibek! and Not Now, Honey, I'm Watching the Game, featured on ABC's "20/20," NPR, and the Washington Post. He is also a ghostwriter, editor and counselor. 3/17 7 p.m.

Milton C. Regan is the author of Eat What You Kill: The Fall of a Wall Street Lawyer. He is a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. 3/17 noon

Don Reid, author of Heroes and Outlaws of the Bible and Sunday Morning Memories, is a Staunton, Virginia resident best known as a member of the Statler Brothers. Among his more than 200 published and recorded songs, many have been number one and top 10 hits. 3/18 6 p.m.

Steven E. Rhoads, author of Taking Sex Differences Seriously, has been a professor teaching public policy at UVa for 30 years.  He focuses his studies on sex differences and their importance for an understanding of many contemporary cultural, gender, and policy issues. 3/20 1:30 p.m.

Teresa Riordan, author of Inventing Beauty, has written an invention column for the New York Times for ten years. Her web log can be found at www.patentlyabsurd.com. She lives with her husband and three children in Silver Spring, Maryland. 3/18 10 a.m.

Butch Robins is a musician, recording artist, and author of What I Know `Bout What I Know.  A virtuoso banjoist who played with Bill Monroe, a true individualist, and a self-styled philosopher, Robins' place in the history of Bluegrass music is secure. 3/16 4 p.m.

Helen Rountree is an expert on the Algonquian-speaking Indians of the Southeast.  Along with Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough, she is also the author of Powhatan Foreign Relations and (with Thomas Davidson) Eastern Shore Indians of Virgina and Maryland. 3/19 noon

Debran Rowland, author of The Boundaries of Her Body, is also a civil rights attorney (law degree from Loyola University of Chicago). Her journalism awards include Best News Feature from the Chicago Association of Black Journalists and the Robert L. Vann award for Best News Series. 3/18 2 p.m.

Deborah Rudacille is a science writer at the Johns Hopkins University. In her new book, The Riddle of Gender: Science, Activism, and Transgender Rights, she explores the ways that science and medicine have affected the lives of transgendered and transsexual people. 3/20 3 p.m.

Lucy Sankey Russell is an attorney whose essays have appeared in the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Brain,Child and other publications. 3/16 4 p.m.

Esmeralda Santiago is author of the memoirs When I Was Puerto Rican, Almost a Woman and The Turkish Lover, and the novel America's Dream. A Harvard graduate, Santiago has also written for The New York Times, Boston Globe, House & Garden and other publications. 3/18 4 p.m.; 3/19 8 p.m.

Faye Satterly has been afforded a very satisfying career in nursing for twenty years. Now she feels the profession is in trouble.  Where Have All the Nurses Gone? strives to alert the public to an impending crisis. 3/16 6 p.m.

Peter L. Sheras, Ph.D., ABPP, is a clinical psychologist and professor in UVa's Curry School of Education. His five books include I Can't Believe You Went Through My Stuff!  How to Give Your Teens the Privacy They Crave and the Guidance They Need and Your Child: Bully or Victim? 3/16 2 p.m.

H. H. Shugart, author of How the Earthquake Bird Got Its Name and Other Tales of an Unbalanced Nature, is W. W. Corcoran Professor, UVa Department of Environmental Sciences. He is author of more than 300 publications. 3/19 10 a.m.

Clara Silverstein's White Girl: A Story of School Desegregation chronicles her experiences in Richmond, Virginia. She is now a journalist in Boston, a poet published in literary magazines, and Program Director of the Writers' Center at Chautauqua, New York. 3/18 6 p.m.

Douglas Smith, author of Managing White Supremacy: Race, Politics and Citizenship in Jim Crow Virginia, received the 2003 Virginia Literary Award from the Library of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. from UVa and teaches history at Occidental College in Los Angeles. 3/18 12 noon

M. W. Smith is Associate Professor of English at Bluefield State College and the author of Fishing the Shenandoah Valley, Fishing the New River Valley and Fishing the Roanoke Valley. He is the proprietor of Greasy Creek Outfitters in Floyd, Virginia. 3/17 7 p.m.

Edwin Stalzer, author of Life's Journey of a Refugee, survived WWII, seven grueling years in Austrian refugee camps, and the gang wars of Brooklyn's 1950s. He and his wife Carol now live in Charlottesville, Virginia. 3/16 2 p.m.

Geoffrey R. Stone, author of Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from The Sedition Act of 1798 to The War on Terrorism, is the Harry Kalven, Jr. Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. 3/19 10 a.m.

Andrea Sutcliffe's latest book, her ninth is Steam: The Untold Story of America's First Great Invention.  Her other books include The New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage and Touring the Shenandoah Valley Backroads.  She lives in the Shenandoah Valley. 3/18 4 p.m.

Camilla Townsend, author of Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, is associate professor of history at Colgate University and has served as interim director of Native American Studies. She now has a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to study historical texts in indigenous languages. 3/19 noon

Bill Trevillian, author of Goat Bell, Still & Sweets, is a retired Charlottesville native who now has more time to pursue his life-long hobbies of bird hunting, salt-water fishing and photography, as well as his first love, writing. 3/17 4 p.m.

Stephanie Triplett is co-author of The Mommy Chronicles and owner of Writer's Block, a marketing and copywriting business. She has more than 15 years experience in  marketing and advertising, including working for Disney/ABC Family Channel. 3/18 10 a.m.

Peter Wallenstein teaches U.S. History at Virginia Tech. He writes on topics in the history of racial identity and public policy, including interracial marriage and the desegregation of higher education. His most recent books include Blue Laws and Black Codes. 3/18 noon

Jessica Ward has lived in Lynchburg for more than 25 years. She has served for many years on the Board overseeing the upkeep of Lynchburg's 200-year-old Old City Cemetery. She compiled Food to Die For as a fundraiser for that project. 3/16 6 p.m.

Holley Watts took her first helicopter ride at 16, which lasted one hour. Four years later she had logged thousands more hours in helicopters as a Red Cross "Donut Dolly" in 1966-67 Vietnam.  Who Knew? Reflections on Vietnam is her first book. 3/18 4 p.m.

Sandra F. Waugaman wrote Poor Man's Philanthropist: The Thomas Cannon Story, about and with Mr. Cannon.  She is a freelance journalist who has also written We're Still Here: Contemporary Virginia Indians Tell Their Stories. 3/16 2 p.m.

Richard Alan White, author of Breaking Silence: The Case that Changed the Face of Human Rights, is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs and former consultant on Latin American affairs for ABC "World News." 3/18 6 p.m.

David Wyatt is a Professor of English at the University of Maryland.  And the War Came: An Accidental Memoir is his fifth book.  On 9/11, he began writing down things said by family and friends for a personal look at how the events of that day changed the course of ordinary American lives. 3/20 3 p.m.

Nancy Beck Young is an associate professor of history at McKendree College. She has published Lou Henry Hoover: Activist First Lady. She is a former fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 3/19 10 a.m.