Chicago native Bonnie Schwartzbaum came to Miami 41 years ago, where she’s currently the director of the Jewish Community Services kosher food bank – you can read a great story about her work there in this month’s Biscayne Times – and she is active in many community-serving organizations. She’s been a Friend since 1986.
How did you first learn about Miami Book Fair?
My father-in-law had a men’s clothing store on North Miami Avenue, so I just stumbled upon it while I was visiting him. I saw the signs and went over to see what was going on, and I was so excited! I think it was Book Fair’s second year, and I ran around like crazy buying books – I didn’t know about the speakers yet – and I remember running back to the store with shopping bags full of books and running back to the Fair to buy more.
When did you become a Friend?
So the next year I got the catalog and I was really excited to see the speakers. I was in Chapman and saw my friend Gail Harris, who’s a longtime supporter of the food bank, and I sat down and was talking to her when an usher came up and asked me, “Are you a friend?” I said, “Oh, yes, I’m a friend of Gail’s,” and he said, “No, are you a Friend of the Book Fair? You need to move back.” And I got thrown out of the first four rows! [laughs] Later I asked Gail what was that all about, and she said I had to join Friends of the Fair.
That sort of sounds like an episode of I Love Lucy.
I know! I always tell people that this is the best ticket in town. You get to cruise right by the line of 5,000 people waiting to see someone like Stephen King, and get right in the Friends’ line and get front-row seating. It’s a fantastic thing to do; I tell everyone to become a Friend of the Fair.
So basically, the reason why you became a Friend was an usher-shaming, slightly embarrassing, I Love Lucy-like moment.
Exactly – I got booted! [both laugh] You know that expression, I’ve been thrown out of better places before? Well I don’t think I’ve ever been thrown out of a better place than Book Fair. [laughs]
You’ve been a Friend for so long and must have a lot of great memories about the Fair – is there one experience that particularly stands out for you?
When my oldest son, Adam, was about 9 years old, I took him to see Pat Conroy – it was a wonderful presentation – in the evening. Adam was holding his copy of Prince of Tides – he’s always been a voracious reader– and he was tired and had to be in school the next day, so I asked an usher if I could give her the book and have Pat Conroy sign it for Adam and then I’d pick it up at Books & Books the following week. So she runs over and asks Mitchell Kaplan if this is possible, and Mitchell comes up to us, takes Adam by the hand, takes him to the very front of this long line, and says to the first person in line, “Would you mind if this little boy went first? He’s gotta go to bed and go to school tomorrow.” And who’s going to say no to Mitchell Kaplan? [laughs]
Or to an adorable and somewhat sleepy little boy.
That was a fantastic night, and only when Adam was away at college did he miss coming to a Book Fair with me. My mother always went to Book Fair with me, too, and when Sonia Sotormayor was there – my mom was in a wheelchair that year – she stopped as she was passing my mother, reached out and took her hand [gets choked up], and leaned down to talk to her and have a quiet moment. It was really beautiful and a moment that my mother really, really loved.
Is there an author whose work you weren’t familiar with before seeing them at the Fair, but then you did and said to yourself, I have to start reading their books?
There’s been so many, but the one who stands out is Anne Rice, because I’d never read any of that kind of gothic literature before. When I got to the Fair that day, I saw this long line of strange-looking people dressed up as vampires – I never saw anything like that in my life. [laughs] I thought, what the hell is going on here? I gotta get in this line and see what’s happening. I don’t think I was even planning to go, but when I saw all these costumed people – have you seen the people who came to see Anne Rice back in those days?
I’m familiar.
I was not, but I went to the program and saw this fascinating woman and started to read Anne Rice.
What was the last great book you read?
I read everything from the deep and intellectual to the silly – I’m all over the place. I loved Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee. So interesting. And right now I’m reading House of Gucci.
If you could see anyone at MBF, who would that be?
I’ve never seen Barbara Kingsolver live – I don’t know if she’s been to the Fair and I just missed her – and I love, love, love her books. I’ve been reading Haruki Murakami; I think he’d be a fascinating person to see. Also the guy who wrote The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, and then the author who always makes me laugh, Sophie Kinsella. I remember reading the first book in the Shopaholic series and just laughing out loud.
Interview by Elisa Chemayne Agostinho.
