Author Jamie Ford Scheduled for Several North Idaho Events

Jamie Ford, author of “The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” – the 2011 title for the Our Region Reads project – is scheduled to attend several events in North Idaho in connection with the regional community read.
The primary public activity will be Wednesday, March 16, when Ford will be at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library at 7 p.m. in the Community Room. The author will speak, answer questions, and will be available to sign copies of his book. Admission is free.
Ford’s novel tells the story of Henry Lee, a boy of Chinese heritage who is 11 years old growing up in Seattle when the attack on Pearl Harbor marks the entrance of the United States into World War II. But it is also the story of Henry Lee late in his life when a surprising discovery in the old Panama Hotel in Seattle brings back memories of a time when Japanese-Americans were rounded up and sent to internment camps.
The background music for “Hotel” is the sound of jazz being played in Seattle’s clubs and homes in the 1940s.
Prior to his presentation at the Coeur d’Alene Library Ford is scheduled to speak to the area high school students at Lake City High School. A discussion about the book by the 3Cs Book Club will be held Wednesday at the Coeur d'Alene Resort and will be led by Virginia Johnson. On Tuesday the author was greeted by a reception at the Post Falls Library with representatives from several area book clubs.
Upcoming public Our Region Reads activities include:

March 18, 7:00 p.m.(doors open 6:30 p.m.): “Bitter Sweet Memories: Music of the Second World War” with vocals by Ruth Pratt, Jacklin Cultural Center, 405 William St., Post Falls, tickets $20, art@thejaclincenter.org, 208-4578950.

March 23, 10:15 a.m.: Pageturners Library Book Club, discussion “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” open to any adult reader, free, Coeur d’Alene Library Community Room, 702 E. Front Ave., 208-769-2315.

March 23, 7 p.m.: Living Voices – “Within the Silence:” A one-woman show characterizing the forced relocation of Japanese-American to internment camps, Coeur d’Alene Library Community Room, free, 208-769-2315.

March 24, 1:30 p.m., “Within the Silence:” A one-woman show characterizing the forced relocation of Japanese-American to internment camps, Post Falls Library, 821 N. Spokane St., free. 208-773-1506.