2013 AFAUSSS Conference in Boston

Clint Hill meets President George H.W. Bush. Mr. Hill has met every president

Clint Hill and Tom Wells (Kennedy Children's Detail) 

 

 

Kennedy Detail agents Rad Jones, Ken Wiesman, Chuck Zboril, Clint Hill, Toby

Former Secret Service agent Jerry Blaine to talk about JFK

Meet Jerry Blaine August 19, 2013 - Highlands Ranch, Colorado!

Highlands Ranch Historical Society at 7 p.m.
Southridge Recreation Center, 4800 McArthur Ranch Road

The PowerPoint presentation will be followed with a question-and-answer period as well as a book signing.

To RSVP for the Aug. 19 event, please email hrhistoricalsociety@comcast.net. The event is free for members, but a suggested donation of $1 is requested for non-members. Light refreshments will be served beginning at 6:30 p.m.

 
Jerry Blaine has been a lot of things in his life — a sailor, a student, and a Secret Service agent assigned to three U.S. presidents, including John F. Kennedy.

It’s the three years he spent with Kennedy that were documented in his New York Times best-seller “The Kennedy Detail,” and in the upcoming film due out in 2014.

The 1950 Englewood High School graduate and Korean War veteran has spent a lot of time discussing his book since it was released in 2010, but says he has just one presentation left in him.

Because of his local roots, he will give that presentation to the Highlands Ranch Historical Society at 7 p.m. Aug. 19 at Southridge Recreation Center, 4800 McArthur Ranch Road in Highlands Ranch. The PowerPoint presentation will be followed with a question-and-answer period as well as a book signing.

The talk, he said, will focus on the difference — from the Secret Service perspective — of the Eisenhower presidency and the Kennedy presidency, the Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, and the personal relationship he developed with the Kennedy family. He will also talk about the differences in the Secret Service between then and now.

Blaine, who was hired by the service in 1959 after earning a business degree from the University of Colorado, was the first agent assigned to the Kennedy detail and joined the president-elect in Palm Beach, Fla., the day after the 1960 election.

“Being the first agent on regular detail with him, I had quite a bit of interaction with him. I had a lot more after he hit me in the head with a golf ball,” he said. “If he wasn’t tied up in the affairs of state, he would stop by the post and shoot the breeze. He was very personal that way.”

And while Kennedy was extremely personal with Blaine and the other agents, one thing Blaine won’t discuss in the presentation and does not address in his book is the personal affairs of the president — something that has been heavily documented, and not all of which Blaine says is anywhere near close to the truth.

“A lot of it is exaggerated, including the Marilyn Monroe thing, which is blown way out of proportion,” he said. “It didn’t define the Kennedy administration.”

While some of what may be holding Blaine back is an unwritten code between agents never to discuss First Family matters openly, he said he was compelled to write the book a few years back after “the conspiracy theorists began to kidnap history.”

“It was time to put together the facts of what happened. That’s why I wrote the book,” he said. “We knew from the day after Kennedy was elected we were working under a different circumstance than we were working under with Eisenhower.”

Blaine, who saw the president for the last time when he left Fort Worth for Dallas the day he was shot, will address the assassination, and said he is happy to answer questions surrounding all of the theories that have circled it for the last 50 years.

“We were always concerned about a sniper, because he was so vulnerable,” Blaine said. “He was so unpredictable he was predictable as far as going into crowds, and he loved the open-top limousine in parade situations. ... It was very difficult to stomach.”

To RSVP for the Aug. 19 event, please email hrhistoricalsociety@comcast.net. The event is free for members, but a suggested donation of $1 is requested for non-members. Light refreshments will be served beginning at 6:30 p.m.. The event is from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Reposted From Our Colorado News

Noise and Notes: Gerald Blaine on 'The Kennedy Detail'

For Noise and Notes, Blaine sat down to discuss what it's like to protect a U.S. President, how the agency changed after the assassination, and the American public gravitated towards conspiracy theories in the decades after.

Former U.S. Secret Service Agent Gerald Blaine has spent his life thinking about security. In his book "The Kennedy Detail" co-authored with journalist Lisa McCubbin, Blaine chronicles his time protecting former President John F. Kennedy up until the assassination in Dallas. It also looks at how the shooting was traumatic for Blaine's fellow agents and how each dealt with the president's death differently. The book has been the subject of 2011 documentary and is set to be a feature film to be filmed in New Orleans

'The Kennedy Detail,' a new film about the JFK assassination, to shoot in NOLA in March

  By Mike Scott, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

New details are emerging on “The Kennedy Detail” — the book-inspired, big-screen “answer to” Oliver Stone’s conspiracy-laden 1991 film “JFK.” Among the more intriguing, at least for local movie-goers: It is scheduled to start shooting in March in New Orleans, the same city in which Stone shot his film some 22 years ago.

That’s according to a news release sent out this morning (Jan. 7) by producers for the film, which is expected in theaters this fall, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. “The Kennedy Detail” will be directed and co-written by Stephen Gyllenhaal (“Paris Trout”), the father of sibling actors Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal.

The independent drama — a co-production of Atchity Entertainment International and Ramos & Sparks Group — will tell the story of John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination from the point of view of members of his Secret Service detail. The film’s producers, in a news release last spring announcing the film, said it is intended to be an answer to Stone’s “fanciful ‘JFK.’”

“JFK and his story will be brought to life with cutting-edge CGI and enhanced historical footage, allowing the actors to ‘interact’ with the ‘real’ 35th president,” Gyllenhaal said in the release. “The actors will also have direct access to (Secret Service) agents, now in their 80s, three of whom were within a few feet of the assassination.” ‘JFK and his story will be brought to life with cutting-edge CGI … allowing the actors to ‘interact’ with (him)” — director Stephen Gyllenhaal

Principal casting on the film is set to begin this week.

“The Kennedy Detail” is based on the New York Times bestseller of the same name written by former Secret Service agent Gerald Blaine — a former member of Kennedy’s security detail — with journalist Lisa McCubbin. The book has already spawned a Discovery Channel documentary, also called “The Kennedy Detail,” which was narrated by Martin Sheen and nominated in 2011 for a News and Documentary Emmy in the long-form historical programming category.

Among crew members announced this week are casting directors Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee (“The Help,” “Pineapple Express”); line producer Jennifer Roth (“Black Swan,” “The Wrestler”); production designer Lilly Kilvert (“Legends of the Fall,” “The Last Samurai”); costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo (“Avatar,” “Total Recall”); and screenwriters Gyllenhaal and Kathleen Kwai Ching.

In addition, Blaine and McCubbin will serve as associate producers, and former agent Clint Hill — the agent seen climbing onto the back of Kennedy’s limousine following the shooting — is serving as a special adviser.

AEI Clients Gerald Blaine and Clint Hill - West Virginia Book Festival Oct. 22nd!

The Kennedy Detail

Saturday, October 22, 11:30 a.m., WV 105

Two former U.S. Secret Service agents who served on the Kennedy Detail set the record straight about what really happened on the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas.

See full program schedule

The Kennedy Detail Photo Album

Visit Discovery Channel

After the Assassination | The Kennedy Detail

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Protecting the Kennedys

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Protecting Jacqueline The Kennedy Detail

Visit Discovery Channel

Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau Brings Author to live Audiences

Blaine, Gerald Member of JFK's Secret Service Detail Speaking Topics · The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence

Call Simon & Schuster at 1-866-248-3049 Or

Complete Online Request Form

About Blaine, Gerald:

Gerald Blaine had the privilege of serving three U.S. presidents as a Special Agent of the Secret Service on the White House detail. For the first time in his book, The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence, the true story of the events leading up to and following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, from the perspective of the Secret Service agents who were there is revealed.

In The Kennedy Detail, Blaine – one of the thirty-four men in Kennedy’s detail – sets history straight on what really happened that afternoon, as well as in the months leading up to and following the assassination. His account includes contributions from most of the Secret Service agents who were on the Kennedy Detail, and draws upon their daily reports, expense accounts, personal notes, and verbal first-hand accounts. A close-knit brotherhood of agents who collectively suppressed the trauma of that day, the sharing of this story has helped heal their wounds of failure and guilt.

Clint Hill, the agent who jumped on the back of the car after the shooting and pushed Jackie down into the back seat, has not contributed to any books on the assassination, until now. As Hill writes in the Foreword, “I don’t talk to anybody about that day…It is only because of my complete faith and trust that Jerry Blaine would tell our story with dignity and unwavering honesty that I agreed to be involved.”

While The Kennedy Detail adds another volume to one of the most prolifically discussed aspects of our country’s history – between the conspiracy theories and countless revisionist histories – it is the only authoritative account of the events of that day from the men, like Clint Hill, who were there to guard the president’s life. With access to information from this privy vantage point, Blaine is able to disclose a variety of behind-the-scenes stories related to the assassination.

As Blaine writes, “Every man on the Kennedy Detail would re-live those six seconds in Dallas a million times over. For the rest of their lives, they would be defined by the assassination of JFK, questioned and blamed for failing to achieve the impossible.”

After serving for five years with the Secret Service, Blaine resigned following the assassination and later became the Director of Security for the IBM Corporation, and worked there for 27 years. He was then employed by ARCO International oil company and as the Director of Security and Foreign affairs. He has traveled to every country in the world and is very familiar with the issues of the Middle East, former Soviet Union, China, Africa, Asia, terrorism, and international trade and global issues.

Blaine is an experienced speaker and has appeared before audiences of thousands. He has addressed the International Association of chiefs of Police, International Security Managers association, and various other security associations. In his capacity as an Industry Marketing Consultant for IBM, he spoke to many customer executive groups from the law enforcement, Intelligence and judicial community. He retired in 2003 and now lives in Colorado with his wife of more than fifty years.

About Blaine, Gerald:

Gerald Blaine had the privilege of serving three U.S. presidents as a Special Agent of the Secret Service on the White House detail. For the first time in his book, The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence, the true story of the events leading up to and following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, from the perspective of the Secret Service agents who were there is revealed.

In The Kennedy Detail, Blaine – one of the thirty-four men in Kennedy’s detail – sets history straight on what really happened that afternoon, as well as in the months leading up to and following the assassination. His account includes contributions from most of the Secret Service agents who were on the Kennedy Detail, and draws upon their daily reports, expense accounts, personal notes, and verbal first-hand accounts. A close-knit brotherhood of agents who collectively suppressed the trauma of that day, the sharing of this story has helped heal their wounds of failure and guilt.

Clint Hill, the agent who jumped on the back of the car after the shooting and pushed Jackie down into the back seat, has not contributed to any books on the assassination, until now. As Hill writes in the Foreword, “I don’t talk to anybody about that day…It is only because of my complete faith and trust that Jerry Blaine would tell our story with dignity and unwavering honesty that I agreed to be involved.”

While The Kennedy Detail adds another volume to one of the most prolifically discussed aspects of our country’s history – between the conspiracy theories and countless revisionist histories – it is the only authoritative account of the events of that day from the men, like Clint Hill, who were there to guard the president’s life. With access to information from this privy vantage point, Blaine is able to disclose a variety of behind-the-scenes stories related to the assassination.

As Blaine writes, “Every man on the Kennedy Detail would re-live those six seconds in Dallas a million times over. For the rest of their lives, they would be defined by the assassination of JFK, questioned and blamed for failing to achieve the impossible.”

After serving for five years with the Secret Service, Blaine resigned following the assassination and later became the Director of Security for the IBM Corporation, and worked there for 27 years. He was then employed by ARCO International oil company and as the Director of Security and Foreign affairs. He has traveled to every country in the world and is very familiar with the issues of the Middle East, former Soviet Union, China, Africa, Asia, terrorism, and international trade and global issues.

Blaine is an experienced speaker and has appeared before audiences of thousands. He has addressed the International Association of chiefs of Police, International Security Managers association, and various other security associations. In his capacity as an Industry Marketing Consultant for IBM, he spoke to many customer executive groups from the law enforcement, Intelligence and judicial community. He retired in 2003 and now lives in Colorado with his wife of more than fifty years.

About Blaine, Gerald:

Gerald Blaine had the privilege of serving three U.S. presidents as a Special Agent of the Secret Service on the White House detail. For the first time in his book, The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence, the true story of the events leading up to and following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, from the perspective of the Secret Service agents who were there is revealed.

In The Kennedy Detail, Blaine – one of the thirty-four men in Kennedy’s detail – sets history straight on what really happened that afternoon, as well as in the months leading up to and following the assassination. His account includes contributions from most of the Secret Service agents who were on the Kennedy Detail, and draws upon their daily reports, expense accounts, personal notes, and verbal first-hand accounts. A close-knit brotherhood of agents who collectively suppressed the trauma of that day, the sharing of this story has helped heal their wounds of failure and guilt.

Clint Hill, the agent who jumped on the back of the car after the shooting and pushed Jackie down into the back seat, has not contributed to any books on the assassination, until now. As Hill writes in the Foreword, “I don’t talk to anybody about that day…It is only because of my complete faith and trust that Jerry Blaine would tell our story with dignity and unwavering honesty that I agreed to be involved.”

While The Kennedy Detail adds another volume to one of the most prolifically discussed aspects of our country’s history – between the conspiracy theories and countless revisionist histories – it is the only authoritative account of the events of that day from the men, like Clint Hill, who were there to guard the president’s life. With access to information from this privy vantage point, Blaine is able to disclose a variety of behind-the-scenes stories related to the assassination.

As Blaine writes, “Every man on the Kennedy Detail would re-live those six seconds in Dallas a million times over. For the rest of their lives, they would be defined by the assassination of JFK, questioned and blamed for failing to achieve the impossible.”

After serving for five years with the Secret Service, Blaine resigned following the assassination and later became the Director of Security for the IBM Corporation, and worked there for 27 years. He was then employed by ARCO International oil company and as the Director of Security and Foreign affairs. He has traveled to every country in the world and is very familiar with the issues of the Middle East, former Soviet Union, China, Africa, Asia, terrorism, and international trade and global issues.

Blaine is an experienced speaker and has appeared before audiences of thousands. He has addressed the International Association of chiefs of Police, International Security Managers association, and various other security associations. In his capacity as an Industry Marketing Consultant for IBM, he spoke to many customer executive groups from the law enforcement, Intelligence and judicial community. He retired in 2003 and now lives in Colorado with his wife of more than fifty years.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR EMMY® NOMINATED TEAM FOR THE KENNEDY DETAIL

The Kennedy Detail

Discovery Channel

Executive Producers

Ken Atchity, Brooke Runnette, Chi‑Li Wong, Jay Renfroe,
David Garfinkle

Co‑Executive Producer

Vince DiPersio

Producers

Grant Axton, Gerald Blaine, Liza Maddrey, Lisa McCubbin




“©ATAS/NATAS”

Join AEI Clint Gerald Blaine at the Bookworm's Local Author Showcase - June 3rd

Local Author Showcase 2011

The Kennedy Detail Kicks Off The 31st Annual Breckenridge Film Festival!

June 9th at 4:00 pm and 12th at 3:00 pm

Book Signing will follow the film presentation.

If Sundance is too crazy, grand and expensive, come to Breckenridge and

recapture those early days of Sundance. Be part of four full days of films and festivities.

Visit http://www.breckfilmfest.com to learn more about the 2011 Festival, forums and events.

AEI Clients Clint Hill and Gerald Blaine at the Gaithersburg Book Festival

With 6 Year Old Terrell Pullen

































































Photos Courtesy of Jeffrey D. Pullen

Join AEI Clients Gerald Blaine and Clint Hill at the Gaithersburg Book Festival - May 21, 2011

GBF News February 2011 In This Issue... Pushing 40: List of Featured Authors Expands to 38 114 Local Students Enter GBF Short Story Contest GBF Thanks its Newest Sponsors Blogging Away We Want You: Volunteers Needed Vendors: Show Your Stuff at the 2011 GBF Festival Sponsors Pushing 40: List of Featured Authors Expands to 38 The hard-working author recruitment team continues to amaze, having attracted almost 40 featured authors – all amazing in their own right – who will present and sign books at the 2011 Gaithersburg Book Festival. Last month we featured nine of our latest additions, and now we have 16 more to tell you about – see their mini bios below. A full list of our featured authors can be found on the GBF website. Mary Amato is an award-winning children's book author, poet, playwright and songwriter. Her books have been translated into foreign languages, optioned for television, produced onstage, and nominated for children's choice awards in many states. Her latest is “Edgar Allan's Official Crime Investigation Notebook,” a mystery for children ages 7-10. Gerald Blaine was hired in 1959 as a special agent of the Secret Service, and handpicked to serve on the elite White House Detail, the 34-man team responsible for protecting President Dwight D. Eisenhower. When John F. Kennedy was elected in November 1960, Blaine was immediately transferred to the President-elect detail and, for the next three years, accompanied President Kennedy all over the world. Blaine is the co-author “The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence,” in which he recounts his memories of those years and Kennedy's tragic assassination in 1963. Alison Hart has been writing since she was seven years old when she wrote, illustrated and self-published "The Wild Dog" – a book she still shows young readers to prove that it's never too early to be an author. Today, she is the author of more than 20 mysteries and historical suspense novels for young readers and an adjunct college instructor teaching reading and writing. Clint Hill is a former U.S. Secret Service agent who, at the time of John F. Kennedy's assassination, was responsible for Mrs. Kennedy. He was in the Presidential motorcade on that fateful November day in Dallas and is widely remembered as the agent who sprinted to the limousine in an attempt to save the President, leaping onto the car and, in the process, saving Mrs. Kennedy. Hill will be joining author Gerald Blaine in his discussion of the book, “The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence.” Matt Logelin is the author of “Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love.” Logelin is a widower and single father whose wife, Liz, died of a blood clot the day after their daughter, Madeline, was born. In this memoir, Logelin shares bittersweet and often humorous anecdotes of his courtship and marriage to Liz; of relying on his newborn daughter for the support that she unknowingly provided; and of the extraordinary online community of strangers who have become his friends. Paula McLain is the author of “The Paris Wife,” a historical novel about the life of Ernest Hemingway and Jazz-age Paris, told in the voice of Hemingway's first wife Hadley. McLain says she was inspired to learn more about Mrs. Hemingway, when reading Mr.. Hemingway's memoir, “A Moveable Feast,” in which he wrote of Hadley: “I wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her.” McLain is also the author of two collections of poetry. She lives in Cleveland with her family. Linda Pastan has published 13 volumes of poetry, most recently “Traveling Light.” Two of these books have been finalists for the National Book Award. Pastan's poems have appeared in many journals, including The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, The Nation, The Georgia Review, and Poetry. She has been Poet Laureate of Maryland, and in 2003 she won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for lifetime achievement. She lives with her husband in Potomac, Md. Erica Perl is an award-winning children's book author. Her new picture book "Dotty" was published in August 2010. "Dotty" was called "a charmer" by Kirkus Reviews and was selected as a featured back-to-school book by Barnes & Noble for its national campaign. Perl is also the author of "Chicken Bedtime is Really Early,” “Ninety-three In My Family” and “Chicken Butt!” Daniel Rasmussen is the New York Times best-selling author of “American Uprising: The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt.” A 2009 summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard University, Rasmussen won three prizes for his senior thesis on the 1811 Revolt, including the Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize, Harvard's top undergraduate academic honor. He grew up in Washington, D.C., and currently lives in Boston. Lauren Redniss is the creator of “Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis,” “Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies,” and “Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout.” Her writing and drawing has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, which nominated her work for the Pulitzer Prize. She was a fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars & Writers at the New York Public Library in 2008-2009 and became a New York Institute for the Humanities fellow in 2010. She teaches at the Parsons School of Design in New York City. Scott Simon is a Peabody-Award-winning correspondent and host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday. His book "Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other: In Praise of Adoption" is a memoir of his and his wife's experience adopting two daughters from China and his take on what it means to be a father. Pam Smallcomb is author of the books including “The Trimoni Twins and the Shrunken Treasure,” “The Trimoni Twins and the Changing Coin,” “The Last Burp of Mac McGerp,” and “Camp Buccaneer.” Her latest picture book, “I'm Not,” was an Amazon “Best Book of the Month for January 2011.” Pam lives in Maryland with her husband and four children. Clare Vanderpool is the author of “Moon Over Manifest,” her first novel, which was awarded the 2011 Newbery Medal by the American Library Association as the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. Vanderpool lives in Wichita, Kan., with her family. Douglas Waller is the author of “Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage.” Waller is a veteran journalist and author. From 1994 to 2007, he served in TIME Magazine’s Washington Bureau, where he covered foreign affairs, including extensive work on the Middle East Peace negotiations and the wars in Iraq. Before that he worked at Newsweek reporting on major military conflicts from the Gulf War to Somalia to Haiti. This is the eighth book Waller has either authored or co-authored. Robert Whitaker is the author of “Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America.” He has won numerous awards as a journalist covering medicine and science, including the George Polk Award for Medical Writing and a National Association for Science Writers’ Award for best magazine article. In 1998, he co-wrote a series on psychiatric research for the Boston Globe that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. N.D. Wilson is the author of “The Chestnut King,” the third book in his “100 Cupboards” series novels, popular among kids in grades 4-7. The series tells the story of Henry York, a boy who finds his way to other worlds through the cupboards in the attic of his uncle's Kansas house. Feature film rights to the trilogy have been acquired by Beloved Pictures. 114 Local Students Enter GBF Short Story Contest Maybe it was for the love of writing. Maybe it was for extra credit or a college application. Maybe their mothers made them do it. Or maybe it was for the $100 Barnes and Noble gift certificate. Whatever the reason, the response to our first short story contest for area high school students was a rousing success. We received 114 entries from 9th through 12th graders living in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. For the contest, we challenged students to write a story in 1,000 words or fewer that started with one of three lines provided by Sarah Pekannen, author of "The Opposite of Me" (2010) and "Skipping a Beat" (2011). Round 1 judges recently finished evaluating all the entries, and are now in the process of narrowing them down to the Top 10. Once these finalists are selected, we'll start to post the stories on the GBF Blog, and we’ll also pass them on to our Round 2 judges, who are featured authors at the 2011 GBF. Our Top 10 finalists also will be reading their work at the coffee house during the festival. Stay tuned for details as to when that reading will take place! Some interesting stats about our entries: Demographics – 63 percent of entrants were from Montgomery County. We also had entries from Anne Arundel, Carroll, Frederick and Prince George’s counties in Maryland; Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier and Prince William counties in Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C. Schools – Most of our entrants attend public school, but we had one entry from a home-schooled teen and three entries from private schools. Grades – Best we can tell (not everyone provided their grade), juniors made up the largest "class" from our entrants (visions of accolades for college applications dancing in their heads, perhaps?), with seniors coming in second, freshman third, and then sophomores. Opening Lines – The most popular opening line, by far, was: "Don't open the box," my father always told me... The second most popular line (by a slim, slim margin) was: When I left my parents' house for good, I took five things with me… And in last place: In my entire life, I've fibbed dozens of times - usually to be polite or to get out of attending some mind-numbing social event - but I've only told one really big lie… Save the Date Gaithersburg Book Festival ___________ May 21, 2011 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. GBF Thanks its Newest Sponsors More and more companies are realizing the benefits of having their names associated a great literary event that attracts thousands of attendees from local communities, as well as cities up and down the East Coast and beyond. In the last month, we've added a number of new sponsors for the 2011 GBF. They include: Aris and Marianne Mardirossian Charitable Foundation (Festival Sponsor) Clear Channel Communications (Media Sponsor) Asbury Methodist Village (Literary Sponsor) Shari and Stephen Ashman (Book Lover) Elaine Koch Real Estate LLC (Book Lover) We’re off to a great start, but we still need the support of additional sponsors to make the 2011 Gaithersburg Book Festival even better than last year. There are sponsorship levels to fit all budgets. Please visit the Gaitherburg Book Festival website for more information about 2011 sponsorships. Blogging Away Earlier this month, we introduced a new way for you to get insider information about the Gaithersburg Book Festival – the GBF Blog. So what can you find on the GBF Blog that’s not on our website? Well, a lot, actually. We’ll have exclusive Q&As with featured authors that we hope will whet your appetite and make you want to come to the festival to hear more from these amazing voices. You’ll also be able to find news about our featured authors – from whose latest book has hit the top of the New York Times Bestseller list, to articles and reviews that are making news. And we’ll be polling our readers with questions ranging from what you think is the most romantic book published to what books resulted in the best movie versions. So be sure to visit the blog and weigh in with your thoughts! We’ll also feature original short stories from local high school students. Yup, that’s right – we’re going to give you a sneak peak of the Top 10 stories from our short story contest, which drew 114 entries from around Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The student authors will have the chance to read their stories at the festival coffee shop on May 21, which will be followed by the announcement of the winning story and presentation of a $100 gift card to Barnes & Noble to the champion. We'll post other updates as we get closer to the festival itself. And we hope we'll hear from you. Have a question about the festival? E-mail us. We'll do our best to answer online. We Want You: Volunteers Needed The Gaithersburg Book Festival is an enormous undertaking, which would not be possible without the generous assistance of numerous volunteers. We are continually recruiting volunteers for a number of opportunities. SSL hours are available for high school students. You must be at least 16 years old to apply. Visit the GBF website for more details. If you're interested in becoming part of this great event, take a few seconds and sign up to volunteer. We'll be in touch to coordinate as we get closer to the event. Vendors: Show Your Stuff at the 2011 GBF The Gaithersburg Book Festival is a terrific event at which to showcase your literary-related wares! Whether you’re an author, poet, publisher, literary agent, bookstore, or have any other sort of business that caters to the book industry, here’s a great opportunity. For a very modest price, you’ll get a booth for the day and have a chance to meet and interact with thousands of attendees. For more information on becoming an exhibitor at the festival, please view our Exhibitor & Vendor Application. Festival Sponsors Media Sponsors Questions? We have answers. Click here to contact us.