Books are not dying!

They all agreed. People really prefer holding a paper copy of a book, especially the kids who may be on their phones all day. E-books are nice for traveling, but not much else. And the sales of their books show it. This is a panel of Ohio authors, novelist Mindy McGinnis (a school library aide), David Meyers, a non-fiction and history writer (formerly worked in academia and corrections) and a poet/novelist Amit Majmudar (doctor) with the library director of Ohioana who spoke at Upper Arlington Public Library Thursday evening. Arlington's Tremont Road is so badly torn up, I almost gave up and went home due to the detours, and I'd lived in that neighborhood for 35 years! Two of the speakers were about 30 minutes late. I'm sure some potential members of the audience also gave up. What a mess!

Mindy has a blog "where she stores her extra words" and gives advice to aspiring writers. (Get an agent, she says.) She is an assistant YA librarian who lives in Ohio and cans her own food. She graduated from Otterbein University magna cum laude with a BA in English Literature and Religion. She told us she's a single mom of two.

I've known David and his wife Bev for about 16 years, and we sometimes go to the Rusty Bucket together to celebrate our September birthdays. He is a "lifelong resident of Columbus, Ohio. A graduate of Miami University and The Ohio State University, he has had an abiding interest in local history since childhood. In the past eight years, he has written two novels, a handful of works for the stage, and eight books of local history including Wicked Columbus, Ohio; Kahiki Supper Club: A Polynesian Paradise in Columbus; Inside the Ohio Penitentiary; Ohio Jazz: A History of Jazz in the Buckeye State; and Look to Lazarus: The Big Store. Two of his crime stories have been dramatized on Curious and Unusual Deaths on Discovery: Crime Investigation and Jerry Springer’s Tabloid on Investigation Discovery." David is also on Facebook and used to have really wonderful blog on his music collection, but I don't think it's been updated for awhile.

The son of immigrants, poet and novelist Amit Majmudar grew up in the Cleveland area. He earned a BS at the University of Akron and an MD at Northeast Ohio Medical University, completing his medical residency at the University Hospitals of Cleveland.  He also has a blog with links to his other writings.