Photographer Behna Gardener and her husband, Lanny Gardner, chair emeritus of the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, have lived here since 1974. Proud parents of a daughter living in New York City and a son in Seattle – and grandparents of four – they make their home in Coconut Grove with their beloved Labradoodles: Blue, 2, and Gem, 10.
Why did you initially make the decision to support Miami Book Fair?
If you come to my house you’ll see a home filled to the brim with books in just about every room – photography and art books, biographies and memoirs, nonfiction books and political books – just a huge collection. We recently had to eliminate an entire wall of bookshelves because of a renovation project, and what a challenge that was! [laughs] Deciding what to keep and what to let go of was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
But to answer your question, I love books. And the Fair celebrates literature and reading and brings world-class writers to our city.
What do you think the Fair has brought to Miami as a whole?
When we first moved here in the ’70s, Miami wasn’t exactly known as a cultural destination; it was a beach town. But the Fair – along with Art Basel and New World Symphony – led the way in changing that. It’s also created this community of readers and thinkers. Personally, it’s allowed me to see some incredible authors speak about their work.
Tell me about some of the other organizations you’ve supported in Miami.
We were longtime supporters of New World Symphony, The Bass Museum – where I sat on the board for a number of years – and Americans for Immigrant Justice, where I was a board member for a long time. Immigrant rights are a cause that’s very close to my heart, and in 2004 I collaborated with my friend Bruce Weber on a special insert for the Miami Herald called “Neglected, Forgotten, Denied, but not Broken,” which told the stories of Haitian immigrants fleeing to Miami, and how mistreated they were. We actually went to the Krome Detention Center and took pictures inside. We went on to show those images in the Russell Rotunda in Washington, D.C. Ted Kennedy helped us get the exhibition there.
How does our work align with your personal thoughts on access to literary culture?
I think the Fair opens doors. It brings diverse voices to the stage and it makes these events welcoming and affordable. It gives our community access to writers and stories that we wouldn’t have otherwise.
You’ve very graciously opened up your home to host MBF events – how did that happen and what were those experiences like for you?
My late best friend Linda Frankel – we were like sisters – was a big supporter of the Fair, and she was also an acquaintance of [MBF senior development associate] Lisa Better’s, but I had never met her. But one day we were both out walking our dogs, met and started chatting, and had an immediate connection. So when she asked me if Lanny and I would host something for the Fair in our home, we were thrilled to do it; reading means everything to us!
The events were both great. Lisa and [MBF director of development] Corey and the entire team were wonderful, and we loved opening up the house and meeting other supporters of the Fair – so many interesting people! The first one was an event with Bruce; he spoke. The most recent one happened to be held on Holocaust Remembrance Day – that was a powerful reminder of why the freedom to read and remember and share stories matters so much.
You’re also a supporter of the Next Page Dinner.
Yes. Last year’s event was fantastic; I saw so many people from the community that I knew. My daughter is coming down from New York for it this year. She actually has a very good friend presenting at the Fair, Margaret Stohl.
Going back to your love of books, have you read anything good lately?
The last book that really resonated with me was the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between, by Hisham Matar, a memoir. It’s about his quest to return to Libya to find out what happened to his father, who disappeared during the Gaddafi regime. It’s really moving. Right now I’m reading something that Mitch Kaplan recommended, Go as a River, by Shelley Read.
She’s presenting that at the Fair this year.
Really? It’s such a great book – it really pulls you in and immerses you in the story.
If you could have a one-on-one lunch with any author, living or dead, who would they be and what’s something you would ask them?
Oh, that’s an easy one: Maya Angelou. My daughter-in-law, who’s a pediatrician, was a Black history major as an undergrad and Maya Angelou is the person she admired most in the world. So when Angelou came to Miami for a speaking engagement and invited a mutual acquaintance to attend, he asked me and my daughter-in-law if we wanted to go because he couldn’t. So we go and we’re sitting in the front row waiting for it to start when a man comes up to me and says, “Are you Behna Garder? Come with me – Maya Angelou would like to meet you.” And he leads us backstage and my daughter-in-law just bursts into tears when she sees her. It was an incredible moment. And then she invited us to lunch afterward! We thought it was going to be a big reception but it was just us, Maya Angelou, and three other people. I think my daughter-in-law had an out-of-body experience. [laughs]
I would do anything to have lunch with her again, because I’d love to know what she thinks about the world today, and of the arc – which we thought was bending in her direction, with diversity and caring and openness and freedom, but has bent so far away from all of that. I want to know if she’d still be optimistic that it could bend back.
Interview by Elisa Chemayne Agostinho; responses have been edited for space and clarity.
