Loving Literary

A Southern California newspaper publisher is now the Chief Executive for Playboy, the ridiculously famous adult entertainment magazine. Scott Flanders is now the Chief Executive for Playboy. Flanders is the Chief Executive of Freedom Communications, which is a publisher and TV broadcaster. Flanders has spent the past three years with Freedom Communications. Before that he was the Chief Executive of Colombia House, a company that sells CDs and DVDs through the mail and online.

Lawyers of JD Salinger are suing the author of “60 Years Later”. The “author” doesn’t want to reveal his or her real name. He or she wrote under the name John David California. A lawsuit was filed on Monday in Manhattan by JD Salinger’s lawyers. They are seeking an unspecified amount of damages. Salinger owns the rights to “The Catcher in The Rye”, the main character, “Holden Caulfield”, and any sequels of “The Catcher in the Rye”.

“Miracle Ball: My Hunt for the Shot ‘Heard Round the World’” is authored by Brian Biegel. It’s all about the baseball that Bobby Thomson hit a homerun with in 1951. Why would Brian Beigel care so much about this baseball? Well, because he is the son of Bobby Thomson.

Last week I wrote about the upcoming BookExpo. Here are some great excerpts from that: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090531/ap_on_re_us/us_bookexpo_america_notes

Barbara Streisand has finished building her dream home and is thinking about writing a memoir. She is an actor, singer and director. Streisand already has an illustrated book coming out the fall of 2010, “A Passion for Design”.  She’s been writing, but isn’t sure if she wants to write a memoir or not. I’ll keep you posted!

Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay is now working on a book where she will outline the “core values” she used to set up the incredibly successful online auction website. The book will be published by Crown Business in February 2010. Meg Whitman has said she will donate all of her earnings to charity. Her book will be about her life, her time with eBay and other companies. Crown Business is an imprint of Random House, Inc. Meg Whitman joined eBay in 1998 when the company was still small. She resigned last year. She is said to be seeking the position of the Governor of California.

Israeli author, Amos Elon, passed away recently at the age of 82. He left Israel and started a nice life in Italy. Elon died in Tuscany due to a blood disorder much like Leukemia. Elon was born in 1926 in Vienna. He moved to Mandatory Palestine in 1933 with his parents. Elon went to Jerusalem’s Hebrew University where he studied history and law. Elon started his career writing articles for the Haaretz. His books included Herzl , The Pity of it All , Founder: a Man and His Time , Jerusalem: City of Mirrors , and A Blood-Dimmed Tide.

BookExpo America is where countless publishers, authors, agents, and editors will network. There will be more than 1,500 exhibitors, over 500 authors, and more than 50 topic sessions. BookExpo America holds its convention at the Jacob J. Javits Center in New York City, NY. This year it will be taking place from May 28th until May 31st.

Learn all about Memorial Day with this book from True Books by Christian Ditchfield. Memorial Day teaches you about facts of the holiday and helps young readers understand what we are celebrating. It is recommended for children ages 9-12 and is 48 pages long. Memorial Day also has some colorful illustrations.

Sarah Palin, the governer of Alaska and woman who ran for Vice President with John McCain, has chosen a ghostwriter to help her with her memoir. No title has been released as of yet. Palin’s memoir is scheduled to be released next year through HarperCollins. Palin chose Lynn Vincent an author and co-author of several books. Vincent is a features editor for World magazine.