Candis and Guy Trusty – she’s an attorney, he’s a commercial real estate broker specializing in the hotel industry – have been sharing their thoughts and opinions on the books they read with each other ever since they were growing up across the street from one another in Virginia. They came to the Magic City after Guy was tasked with helping to open up the Omni Hotel in downtown Miami in the late 1970s. They share their home with a toy poodle named Mr. T and have been Friends of the Fair for more than 30 years.
You’ve known each other since you were kids – when did you go from neighbors and classmates to sweethearts?
C: When we were younger, I used to help him with his newspaper route –
G: Do you even know what a paper route is? [laughs]
Yes, I remember paper routes! [laughs]
C: I’d help him roll up the newspapers, put them in his basket, and help him throw them into people’s yards. Sometimes I’d ride up front on the handlebars.
G: It was the original Uber. [all laugh]
C: His friends were in my algebra class and they told him – I was in 10th grade, he and his friends were a year older than me – and all his friends had girlfriends and they said to him, “Oh, you need to make Candy your girlfriend,” so he came up to me and said, “They said you should be my girlfriend.” [both laugh]
You’ve been Friends of the Fair for a long time.
C: We grew into it, if you will. When the Fair first started we’d go to see one or two authors, and then as it started growing we’d end up spending a day, two days there. So we became Friends really quickly.
What’s an MBF experience that really stands out for each of you?
C: I remember going to a luncheon with Julia Child, and another one at the Biltmore – I think that one was with Barbara Taylor Bradford – and I sat with this gentleman who lived on Sunset Island, super charming guy and really engaging. He ended up inviting us to his home for a reception, and then he took us on a tour of his gallery of impressionist art. We’d never have encountered him if not for Book Fair, and we’ve had so many encounters like that that have introduced us to people with shared interests.
Oh, and Alex Haley! I never in my life thought I’d get to meet Alex Haley and be shaking his hand. For such an icon to be there at Book Fair – front and center and so approachable – it was amazing.
G: Here’s a story for you. Tom Wolfe wrote a book about Miami – I forget the name of it – and he was very prominent at Book Fair that year. And they had a reception and Tom Wolfe came in in his signature white suit, looking very Southern gentleman dapper, and we had an opportunity to say hi and we enjoyed talking with him a lot, and appreciated being able to do that as Friends of the Book Fair. The next day we go to Joe’s (Stone Crab) and Candy’s mother and father had come into town and were with us, and Tom Wolfe is from Virginia, too, I believe –
C: From Richmond, yes.
G: And we’re all standing in line at Joe’s, and Tom Wolfe is in line at Joe’s, too. So we tell her parents, “Oh, there’s Tom Wolfe; we saw him at Book Fair yesterday,” and Candy’s mother – who is this very dignified, very Southern woman – goes, “Oh, Tom!” and she walks over to him and starts talking to him. [laughs] And then she pulls us over and says, “Have you met Mr. Wolfe?”
C: My mom was on the board of trustees for the Virginia Museum, as he was, so that’s how they knew each other. It’s amazing, all these folks that come to Book Fair.
Which FOTF benefit do each of you most appreciate?
G: It’s gotta be the front-row seating. [laughs] But that doesn’t really speak to the nature of Book Fair.
Lots of people claim that as their No. 1.
G: Really?
Yep; everyone wants a great seat when they’re seeing someone they’re excited about.
G: It’s also nice to every so often at a reception have some one-on-one time with an author.
What about you, Candis?
C: The receptions, getting to meet the authors, the priority seating – all of those things are nice, but what I really value the most is the opportunity to meet fellow readers. You know, while we’re standing in line or sitting next to each other in Chapman. Lisa Better (Friends liaison), for example – I love Lisa! Had we not been part of Book Fair, I would never have met her or been friends with her. Those kinds of experiences you don’t get unless you go to Book Fair.
G: Let me add to what Candy’s saying a little bit. If you live in America today, there are a lot of situations where like-minded people get together. And Book Fair’s a place where like-minded people get together and do positive things. Sometimes when like-minded people get together it doesn’t always turn out good, but at Book Fair it turns out good every time.
What’s a program you really enjoyed at the November Fair?
C: Michael Pollan – he was excellent! There was a reception for him in advance of his reading and there were two youngish, like 35-to-40-year-old men, who sat at the same table with us. And one of them was talking about ketamine and the clinic he was associated with, and how ketamine was helping to treat depression and how it’s working on the young people they work with – the conversation was, I mean, when am I gonna come into contact with someone and talk about ketamine? [laughs]
Then we walked over to the presentation room, and the variety of people there was amazing. When they had the Q&A session a lot of young people were standing in line, and they were talking about their (drug) experiences and it was fascinating.
G: I appreciated Michael Pollan and meeting these guys that had the therapy center, but hands down I enjoyed Kevin Nealon. He was everything I thought he might be and more.
You’re stranded on a deserted island – what books do you want with you?
C: Anything and everything by Charles Dickens. Guy will say One Hundred Years of Solitude. He would read that over and over and over.
G: I also like Crime and Punishment.
C: Oh, yeah, anything by Dostoevsky.
G: And the book – I hate to say I’m blanking on the name – but the book about the person who’s a bug, or thinks they’re a bug.
Kafka, The Metamorphosis.
G: Yes, that’s the one.
Interview by Elisa Chemayne Agostinho.
