Top Journalists to Discuss Press Freedom and the War on Terrorism

Leading journalists will discuss the threats to freedom of the press posed by the war on terrorism during a program on Saturday at BookExpo America (BEA) in the Washington, D.C., Convention Center. The panel at 3 p.m. in Room 150B will include Howell Raines, former executive editor of The New York Times and author of "The One that Got Away: A Memoir" (Scribner); Myra MacPherson, a former Washington Post reporter and author of "All Governments Lie: The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I.F. Stone" (Scribner); and syndicated cartoonist Doug Marlette, author of "Magic Time" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). The discussion will be moderated by Deborah Mathis, a former White House correspondent for the Gannett News Service. The program is co-sponsored by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Foundation and the Association of American Publishers’ Freedom to Read Committee.

Tickets Selling Fast for Bob Newhart/Paula Poundstone Benefit

More than 1,000 tickets have already been sold for the Book Industry Foundation benefit on Saturday night that stars the legendary Bob Newhart and features the hilarious Paula Poundstone. The Book Industry Foundation benefit supports ABFFE and the Association of American Publishers’ “Get Caught Reading” campaign. Newhart, author of "I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This! And Other Things That Strike Me as Funny" (Hyperion), and Poundstone, author of "There’s Nothing in this Book that I Am Meant to Say" (Harmony), will perform from 9 to 11 p.m. in Ballroom A of the convention center. Tickets are $25; two tickets can be purchased for $45; five tickets for $100. Tickets will be available at registration in the Washington DC Convention Center.

ABFFE Silent Auction Set to Launch at BEA and on the Web

The ABFFE Silent Auction offers great bargains on hundreds of items of interest to booksellers and other book-industry professionals, including books, sidelines, sports and entertainment events, and travel packages for most of the regional bookseller shows this fall. The Silent Auction begins Friday morning and ends Saturday at 5 p.m. It is located adjacent to the ABFFE booth on Level 3, outside Halls D and E. An online auction will launch tomorrow and run for two weeks. Click here for a preview of the pen and paper auction.  Click here to register for the online auction.

BEA T-shirt Celebrates “Passion on the Potomac”

ABFFE is once again offering a BEA souvenir T-shirt. This year’s shirt features original art by Pat Bagley, an award-winning editorial cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune and author of "Clueless George Goes to War" (White Horse Books). It depicts a pair of booklovers tangoing against the backdrop of our nation’s capital. The $15 T-shirts are available at the ABFFE booth.