The Ojai Valley Museum invites community and visitors to meet eight local authors who are regularly represented in the Ojai Valley Museum Store. These novelists, historians and gourmands will each have a table at which they will discuss their books and sign copies on Friday, July 13, 2012. This early evening event from 5 to 7:30 pm is free to the public and will include a cheese and no-host wine bar. Attendees may bring books that they already own, or buy from the authors at the event.

The following authors and books will be featured:

ELISE DePUYDT: A Photo Guide to Fountains and Sculptures of Ojai: Art, History & Architecture is a valuable guide to the public art and historic places of the Ojai Valley with over 200 color photos taken by the author. Elise is the Ojai Valley Museum bookkeeper and one of the museum’s Historical Walking Tour docents.

KAREN EVENDEN: A Taste of Croatia is both a delightful travel memoir and an easy to use cookbook with recipes savored by Croatians and adapted for use in American kitchens. Included in the book are her and husband Bill’s delightful and adventuresome memoirs of sailing the Adriatic coast.

RANDY GRAHAM: Ojai Valley Vegetarian Cookbook is a collection of the 120 most popular recipes from the first two years of Graham’s posts to his Ojai Valley Vegetarian Blog, that appeal to everyone without regard to any specific diet. His recipes are also printed under the heading “Chef Randy” in the Ojai Valley News.

PATRICIA A. HARTMANN: The Ojai is a novel that takes the reader on a journey of personal discovery, of the rich and colorful history of the Ojai Valley. Hartman has made Ojai her home for 37 years. She lives with her husband in a 145-year-old farmhouse on nine acres where they grow Pixie Tangerines

TERRY TALLENT: Making The Reata is a moving story told with historical insights into Ojai and Chumash life before the coming of the Spaniards. Tallent did not set out to write a historical novel, but says, “The material lent itself so well.”

TONY THACHER: The Ojai at 100: Tennis, Tea & Tradition chronicles the history of Ojai’s world famous amateur tennis tournament, endearingly nicknamed, “The Ojai.”
The insightful text and facsimile documents, combined with historical photographs, provide a comprehensive history of the tournament’s 100 consecutive years.

CRAIG WALKER: Co-author of Postcard History Series of Ojai. More than 200 vintage postcards were collected for this nostalgic look at our beloved Ojai. Craig is currently on the Board of Directors of the Ojai Valley Museum.

EDWARD D. WEBSTER: A Year of Sundays is a beautiful, travel/love story of Ed Webster and his wife of 28 years, who took their 16-year old cat on a Grand Tour of Europe. The fact that Webster’s wife, Marquerite, is blind, adds unexpected layers to their relationship and travel experiences.

Authors in absentia, with autographed books for sale on July 13th, include: Mr. George Stuart, Richard Senate, and Fred Rothenberg. Books by all of the writers participating in the fair, or with publications only, are currently available in the Museum Store.

A few, out-of-print copies of the book, Birds, Boughs, & Blossoms: Jesse Arms Botke (1882-1971) will also be available at this sale.

The Ojai Valley Museum, established in 1967, is generously supported in part by Museum Members, Private Donors, Business Sponsors and Underwriters, the Smith-Hobson Foundation, Wood-Claeyssens Foundation, City of Ojai, Rotary Club of Ojai, and the Ojai Civic Association.

The museum is located at 130 W. Ojai Avenue, Ojai, CA. Admission: free for current 2012 members, adults - $4.00, children 6–18 - $1.00 and children 5 and under – free. Gallery Hours are Tuesday – Saturday 10 to 4 pm; Sunday, noon to 4 pm. Tours are available by appointment. Free parking is available off Blanche Street at back of museum.

For more information, call the museum at (805) 640-1390, ext. 203, e-mail ojaimuseum@sbcglobal.net or visit the museum website at: Ojai Valley Museum.org

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