GPC hosted Best-selling author on Memorial Day

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 6/1/07

On May 28, Georgia Perimeter College's The Writer's Institute, in conjunction with The Georgia Center for the Book, independent bookseller A Cappella Books, the International Center and The Chattahoochee Review welcomed best-selling author Khaled Hosseini to the packed Cole Auditorium on Clarkston campus.

The free event, which began at 7 p.m. with an introduction by President Tricoli, was opened to the community and allowed Hosseini to speak to the audience and answer questions about his new book, A Thousand Splendid Suns.

The Kite Runner author signed books purchased at the event and those bought from A Cappella Books. The pre-orders gave excited event-goers a reserved seat.

A Cappella, a valued corporate partner, says The Writer's Institute director Rob Jenkins, will donate a portion of the proceeds to the GPC Alumni Association.

"Every bookstore in America tried to get him on this tour," said Frank Reiss, owner of A Cappella Books. "We were very fortunate to get him."

That is, in part, because of the involvement of The Georgia Center for the Book and its director Bill Starr, who had the connections to reach a lot of people about the event, Starr said. Reiss added that Marc Fitten, editor of The Chattahoochee Review, secured GPC as a venue for the event, and that the involvement of the Georgia Center for the Book was "the crowning piece that encouraged the publisher" to bring Hosseini to the Cole Auditorium, even if it was on Memorial Day, the only day Hosseini was available. Hosseini thanked the audience for choosing to spend their holiday with him.

"The Writer's Institute is very pleased to be hosting the event," said Jenkins, who was on hand for the event, as well as writer-in-residence Jack Riggs, who introduced Hosseini to the crowd.

The event and its signing turned out to be quite a success. For DeKalb county residents who missed the reading, it will be broadcast on GPC's Educational Access Channel (22 on Comcast cable) later this summer.