We hope you enjoyed the fundraiser evening with Lawrence University offense football coach and author Mark Speckman on March 29.

His message resonated with all of us. He talked about expectations, obstacles, self-esteem, positive thoughts and the “figure it out” adventure we have all faced one time or another. His sense of humor was delightful. Barriers melted away as we listened to his life story. We don’t think of him as a man who was born without hands. We now know him as a person who has figured things out for himself and certainly encourages us to do the same when we encounter limitations of any kind. We laughed, appreciated his candor and now welcome him and his wife Sue to our community as friends.

Thank you also to Druid’s Table, our music folk who played Irish tunes before Mark’s talk.

And thank you for YOUR donation. All events during the Festival, April 18-24 are free and open to the public. All donations, $2 to $6,000 make the Book Festival happen!

Ruth Bloedow, Co-Chair