The Iola Public Library will host a meet-and-greet for Paul Griffin, author of books for juvenile and young adult readers, from 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, in the library meeting room. The event is scheduled in conjunction with his appearances at schools in Iola and Yates Center March 28 and Humboldt, Colony and Moran on March 29.
Griffin will offer and sign copies of books aimed at the fifth-through-ninth graders he will be visiting: “Adrift,” “Saving Marty,” “Skyjacked” and “When Friendship Followed Me Home.”
A limited number of copies will be available for purchase. Funding for the program is provided by the Helen Gates Whitehead Trust.
Griffin, who graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in film studies, did a little of everything in his early years as a writer, including construction and washing dishes with actor Vin Diesel.
“I made movies and wrote short stories and plays, scripts and, yes, novels that more often than not featured the street mutts that had a habit of wiggling their way into whatever apartment I was living in at the time,” he said.
But, he adds, “The hardest and best work was teaching.”
Today he works with such organizations as Literacy for Incarcerated Teens and Behind the Book.
Other activities
Jen Tarter will offer lessons in microwave cooking In the meeting room at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 30. The focus, she says, will be “easy breakfast-type recipes.” Muffins and scrambled eggs are two items on the menu.
This could be the start of a microwave cooking series, Tarter says. She welcomes suggestions.
Monday programs continue, with Chess Club at 6 p.m. and In Stitches crochet at 6:30.
