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Bunny in the City: Savannah Book Festival a best-seller

Bunny Ware

The 11th annual Savannah Book Festival was held Feb. 15-18 at multiple historic Savannah locations.

Growing exponentially for the past 11 years and with a powerhouse lineup of fabulous women like Diana Gabaldon, Lisa Ko and Jodi Picoult, SBF Executive Director Kim Bockius-Suwyn could not have requested a more perfect festival Saturday for her additional 40 authors and publishers.

Driving into a front-row parking spot courtesy of Savannah Police Department's Cpl. Robert Robinson, I thank the officer and head down West President Street past food trucks from Molly MacPherson's, Big Bon Pizza and Chazito's, skip over into Telfair Square and meet six fabulous "volunteer repeat offenders."

Lorraine Boice, Betsy McCullar, Marion Policinski, Kate Greene, Betsy Horne and Ellen Grimm are not loving the idea of a group pic, but they manage to appease me and my "turn sideways and lean in" request long enough for me to get an all-female smiling photo!

Moving over to the author book-signing tent, I catch up with New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards on her latest book "Ultimatum." With her main character Bianca St. Ives spending summers here in Savannah, Karen tells me "how she loves the juxtaposition of Savannah's southern gentility and being the headquarters of an international crime firm." I tell her the idea is not far-fetched at all!

Posing the former high school editor, teacher and grandmother with presenting sponsor Nancy Cintron, I gaze past Douglas Preston's table and see Chris Sweat trotting in with his copy of John T. Edge's "The Potlikker Papers" ready for signing.

After posing Chris with perennially laughing Jane Wells , I talk with logistics attorney Smitty Smith of Clan Lally, his sons Finn (named after an Irish king) and Connall (named after the son of Connaught) about their favorite books. It's "The 13-Story Treehouse." What school? Savannah Country Day. And who is the youngest? Connall, by 1 second!

Loving how Smitty's passion for books is evident in his sons' lives, I cruise the Ex Libris book sales tent and convince Savannah College of Art &Design sequential art student Samantha Grant and animation student Justin Rae Ngi to pose, introduce Charles Hall to Gallery Books publisher Jennifer Bergstrom and photographer Michael Welsh before once again getting a travel itinerary for globe-trotting photographer Howard Hackney.

Only slightly jealous of his July plans to spend 25 days in Romania and Hungary, I insist on turning the camera on him with Mary Telfair a.k.a. Olivia Reap before skipping over to grab a yucca fry from Chaz Ortiz. Before I can order, Nancy insists I head upstairs at the Jepson Center to the VIP Lounge for culinary treats from Chef Nick Mueller.

Anything this chef makes is exquisite, so I battle the ever growing crowd, but detour over to snap a pic of multi-talented Dan Gilbert and his pups Edie and Finn while trying to remember what he does other than food tours with Savannah Taste Experience. The California Bay Area native tells me he is also producing for Front Porch Improv at Bull Street Labs and works with Cha Bella. Good grief, this dude is busy!

With Chris heading in to listen to his culinary king speak at Trinity Church, I head up the elevator, wave at Stratton Leopold, and grab a healthy spinach croissant from the always awesome Denise McCurry while waving hey to everyone from Irish lass Beth Logan, SBF's Assistant Director Erika Dongre and SBF Board President - the magnificent - Mark Murphy.

Back outside, it is simply a perfect sunny Saturday and as much as I want to listen to Catherine Coulter, I head over to ask the Molly MacPherson team where they will be parking their Scottish food truck next. With plans to see them at Ghost Coast Distillery for a 200 Club event, I quiz Danny Cloutier on their new food truck wrap, the possibility of them buying a B&B in Scotland and me moving there for six months!

With a final lap through Telfair Square, I pause for a quick chat with Nichelle Stephens on how excited she was to meet Attica Locke, confirm that Neil Dawson still has his Tesla and reconfirm that SBF's Kim Bockius-Suwyn is a proud as I think she is!

With packed houses and sold-out events, waiting lines snaking around the six historic buildings, the amped executive director shares, "This was a record-breaking year on every level. More crowds, more book sales and double the number of food trucks all add up to being the most successful festival ever!"

Mark your calendars for next year's festival, Feb. 14-17, and keep reading, ya'll!

Invite Bunny to your gathering, gala or other social event. Contact Bunny at 912-844-1122 or email her at bunnyware@aol.com.