L.A. Book Fair Draws Celebrity Authors

Pushing Daisies star Kristin Chenoweth sang "Over the Rainbow" before leaving the festival's main stage.

We joined the thousands of book lovers who descended on the University of California, Los Angeles campus for the 14th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books April 25 and 26, where many of the authors were famous for things other than writing. At panel discussions, speaker stages and book signings, the biggest draws were Hollywood celebrities moonlighting as novelists, memoirists and kid-lit writers.

Not surprisingly, a horde of team-jersey-wearing guys flocked to see actor Alyssa Milano talk about her book Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic (HarperCollins, 2009), many asking for hugs. Meanwhile, Kristin Chenoweth’s signing for A Little Bit Wicked (Simon & Schuster, 2009) attracted fans lamenting the demise of Pushing Daisies (ABC will run the final episodes May 30–June 13). Dancing With the Stars was well represented, with host Tom Bergeron and Season 7 contestant Cloris Leachman telling hilarious stories while plugging their respective books I’m Hosting as Fast as I Can (HarperCollins, 2009) and Cloris (Kensington, 2009), while Sabrina Bryan (Season 5) read to kids from her book Princess of Gossip (Simon & Schuster, 2008).

However, the undisputed top draw of the festival was Michael J. Fox, who spoke to a packed ballroom about his career, life with Parkinson’s disease, and new book Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist (Hyperion, 2009). Diagnosed in 1991, Fox has raised $142 million for Parkinson’s research via his Michael J. Fox Foundation and says the disease “has been a gift for me. It’s nothing I would have signed up for but it’s been an amazing experience. The load is heavier, but my shoulders are broader now.” Currently appearing on FX’s Rescue Me, he’ll explore the roots of happiness in an ABC special airing May 7.

Successful moonlighters inspire us — in fact, we have a story about moonlighting gigs coming up in our May/June issue (be sure to check it out May 1!). Do you have a second career you’d like to pursue?

Photo credit: Stefanie Keenan

Tags: actor, Alyssa Milano, Arab Banking Corporation (B.S.C.), California, Cloris Leachman, Dancing with the Stars, Entertainment/Culture, Human Interest, Kristin Chenoweth, Los Angeles campus, Los Angeles Times, Mass media, Michael J. Fox, Michael J. Fox Foundation, Parkinson's disease, Princess, Pushing Daisies, Sabrina Bryan, speaker, Stefanie Keenan, Television, Television in the United States, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, Tom Bergeron, University of California, University of California Los Angeles, USD