AUTHORS AND SPEAKERS
Mary Matalin
Mary Matalin is the New York Times best-selling author of “Letters
to My Daughters” and “All’s Fair: Love, War and Running
for President,” co-authored with her husband, James Carville. Ms.
Matalin formerly served as assistant to President George W. Bush and counselor
to Vice President Dick Cheney, and was the first White House official to
hold that double title. Before joining the Bush/Cheney White House, Matalin
hosted CNN’s critically acclaimed debate show, Crossfire,
and is the former founding co-host of the Washington-based political
weeknight talk show, Equal Time. She has made frequent television
appearances as a political commentator and has written for various periodicals
including Newsweek and The Los Angeles Times.
Greg Mortenson
In Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One
School at a Time, Greg Mortenson and acclaimed journalist David
Oliver Relin recount the unlikely journey that led Mortenson from a failed attempt
to climb Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, to successfully
building schools in some of the most remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
By replacing guns with pencils, rhetoric with reading, Mortenson combines his
unique background with his intimate knowledge of the third-world to fight terrorism
with books, not bombs, and successfully bring education and hope to remote villages
in central Asia. Three Cups of Tea is at once
an unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story of how one man really
is changing the world—one school at a time.
Sharon Robinson
In 1997, Sharon Robinson was named the Director of Educational Programming
for Major League Baseball. In this capacity, she created and now manages Breaking
Barriers, In Sports, In Life, a national character-education
program designed to empower students with strategies to help them face
obstacles in their lives. Ms. Robinson is also the author of Jackie's
Nine, a personal tour guide through the nine heartfelt, hard-won
values that helped her father achieve his goals and that are the basis
for the Breaking Barriers program — courage, justice, teamwork, citizenship,
determination, integrity, persistence, commitment, and excellence. The
anthology includes compelling autobiographical passages by the Robinson
family and powerful profiles of people like Muhammad Ali, Elizabeth Eckford,
Michael Jordan, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Marian Wright Edelman, Christopher
Reeve, and Oprah Winfrey, who carry on Robinson's valuable legacy.
Chef Art Smith, author, personal chef to the stars and Volunteer
USA Board member – Art will be preparing the private luncheon for
donors at the Family Literacy Investor level and above.
Art Smith, chef, author, and television personality has brought back meaning
and symbolism to the word “table” and has united families and
friends through the sharing of a meal. A native of Jasper, Florida, Art studied
at the Florida State University School of Business. He began his career with
two internships at The Greenbrier Resort and was then selected to attend
the prestigious Walt Disney Magic Kingdom College Program. Following graduation,
Art took a position working at the Florida Governor’s Mansion where
he worked as executive chef for Governor Bob Graham and his wife Adele. He
continued to cook for families all over the globe, including other well-known
politicians and celebrities.
In 1997, he began a 10-year-long position of personal chef to Oprah Winfrey
and Stedman Graham. He currently acts as the specialty chef for Ms. Winfrey’s
most talked about events. In late summer 2007 he will launch a new fine
dining restaurant in Chicago called “Table,” which will serve
handmade, organic foods gathered from some of the best farms in the Midwest.
A fervent supporter of the community, in 2003 Art established Common Threads,
a nonprofit organization based on his passionate belief that families all
share an innate desire to care for each other, regardless of culture, race
or geographic location. The innovative program serves more than 1,000 children
at seven locations around Chicago and recently expanded into the Oprah
Winfrey Boys & Girls Club of Kosciusko, Mississippi. A Los Angeles
location will open in 2007. In January 2007, Chicago Magazine named Art “Chicagoan
of the Year” for his work with Common Threads and in May 2007 the
James Beard Foundation will bestow its annual Humanitarian Award upon him.
He also serves on the board of directors of “Kids Café,” a
nutrition program for children in Minneapolis.
George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the United States
Born in 1924, George Herbert Walker Bush was the youngest pilot in the Navy
when he received his wings; he flew 58 combat missions during World War II.
On one mission over the Pacific, he was shot down by Japanese antiaircraft
fire and was rescued from the water by a U. S. submarine. He was awarded
the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in action. In January 1945, he
married Barbara Pierce and they had six children – George, Robin (who
died as a child), John (known as Jeb), Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy.
After two terms as a Representative to Congress from Texas, President Bush
held high-level positions including Ambassador to the United Nations, Chairman
of the Republican National Committee, Chief of the U. S. Liaison Office in
the People's Republic of China, and Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency. In 1980, Bush campaigned for the Republican nomination for President;
he lost, but was chosen as a running mate by Ronald Reagan. In 1988, Bush
won the Republican nomination for President and was sworn into office in
January 1989.
He is the author of The China Diary of George H.W. Bush: The Making of a
Global President (2008); All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and
Other Writings (2000); and A World Transformed (1999).
Barbara Bush, former First Lady
Barbara Bush, born in 1925, first lady of the United States (1989-93). Barbara
Pierce Bush was born in Rye, New York, a great-great-great niece of Franklin
Pierce, the 14th U.S. president (1853-57). As a preparatory-school senior
she met her future husband, George Bush, and dropped out in her sophomore
year (1945) at Smith College to marry him. The couple had six children.
Often described as “down to earth,” her straightforwardness
was a key to her popularity as first lady. In this role she continued her
commitment to a number of causes, principally the advocating of literacy.
Through the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, launched in 1989,
reading programs throughout the United States are given support. Believing
that increased literacy would ameliorate other social ills, Bush frequently
urged those she knew or met to become reading tutors.
Her involvement also extended to areas of medical concern, especially the
effort to conquer leukemia, the disease that claimed one of her daughters
in early childhood. She volunteered her time and energy in fund-raising and
in visiting cancer patients. In addition she personally assisted the efforts
of soup kitchens and homeless people's shelters. Proceeds from Bush's C.
Fred's Story: A Dog's Life (1984) and Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara
Bush (1990)—both written as accounts of life as seen from her dogs'
viewpoints—helped to further her charitable interests.
Dr. Eric J. Smith, commissioner, Florida Department
of Education
Eric Smith began his career in Florida more than 30 years ago as a classroom
teacher. His commitment to affecting positive change in the field of education
led him to several administrative positions in Florida school districts and
eventually to 16 years of serving as a district superintendent in Virginia,
North Carolina, and Maryland. His leadership in each district led to significant
gains in academic achievement, increased enrollment in rigorous coursework
and advanced studies, improved reading and math scores among elementary students,
and meaningful progress toward lessening the achievement gap among minority
student populations. He also created meaningful working relationships with
members of the diverse communities he served, the business community, the
faith community, and the district’s elected officials to cultivate
a shared commitment to education of the highest quality.
Eric’s most recent work was with the College Board, where he served
as Senior Vice President for College Readiness and was responsible for leading
the EXCELerator project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
and based on a mission of preparing all students for college. Eric is past
Chairman of the Board of Trustees for The College Board, as well as a member
on the Board of Directors for the Advancement Via Individual Determination
(AVID) program; he also has served as Chair of the National Assessment of
Title 1 Independent Review Panel since 2003. He received his undergraduate
degree from Colorado State University and his master’s degree in school
administration from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He earned
his doctorate of curriculum and instruction from the University of Florida
in Gainesville.
Mr. T. Willard Fair, chairman, Florida State Board of Education
Mr. Talmadge W. Fair is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Urban
League of Greater Miami, Inc. A powerful voice in the effort to improve his
community, he has worked for the Urban League since September 1963. Fair
has served as an adjunct professor at the Atlanta University School of Social
Work, Bethune Cookman College, Florida International University, and the
National Urban League's Whitney M. Young, Jr., Center for Urban Leadership.
Fair is academically and professionally prepared, having attended local
and elementary schools in his native home of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
He received a B.A. degree in sociology, graduated cum laude, from Johnson
C. Smith University, in 1961. He received a M.S.W. degree from Atlanta University
School of Social Work in 1963. Fair is a recipient of the State of
Florida's Outstanding Citizen Award for his commitment to the Sunshine State.
Fair is co-founder, with Governor Jeb Bush, of the Liberty Center Charter
School, the first charter school organized in the state of Florida.
Florida’s Celebration of Reading thanks the Guest Authors who
have generously donated their time and talents to make our past Celebrations
a tremendous success:
- Eric Carle
- Dorothy Bush Koch
- Michael Crichton
- Julianna Baggott
- Jill Connor Browne
- Brad Meltzer
- Mary Higgins Clark
- Carol Higgins Clark
- Robin Cook
- R.L. Stein
- Susan Orlean
- Art Smith
- Michael Beschloss
- Carl Hiaasen
- James McBride
- Marc Brown
- Paulette Bourgeois
- Antwone Fisher
- Fannie Flagg
- James Bradley
- Haven Kimmel
- Joanna Cole
