Lane County Fair authors
THE LANE COUNTY FAIR – The Oregon Authors Table has become a popular feature of the five-day county fair in Eugene in late July. Authors are sent an email invitation in early May, and sign up for as many two-hour booksigning slots as they like. Held in the Performance Hall next to the glass-roofed Atrium, the Oregon Authors Table offers authors free booth space and no sales fee, but the fair charges an admission fee .
If you are an author and would like to receive an invitation, send an email to sullivan@efn.org with your name, the title of your book, a sentence about yourself, and a sentence about your book.
Here is a press release for the 2023 event, to be held Wednesday, July 19 through Sunday, July 23:
Oregon Authors Debut Books at Lane County Fair
By William L. Sullivan
Many of the 26 Oregon authors appearing at the Lane County Fair July 19-23 will be bringing books that have been published within the last few months. The Eugene fair is perhaps best known for quilts, rabbits, and fried food, but for 20 years it has also been a venue for local authors to discuss and autograph their work.
Two of the most innovative debut novels deal with teenage summer jobs. Paul Neville worked for nearly four decades as an award-winning editor and reporter at the Eugene Register-Guard. In retirement he’s written “The Garbage Brothers,” a hilarious novel that’s loosely based on the summer he worked for a garbage collection company in Chicago. Neville will be at the fair 5-7p.m. on Friday, July 21.
Terry Evers is now an elementary educator in Keizer, Oregon with two grown daughters. But when Evers was 13 his father quit a job as a textbook salesman, bought a salmon-fishing dory, and took him out for a summer’s work. “Fifteen Summers: A Memoir” tells the ups and downs of learning to be a commercial fisherman alongside his Dad. Evers will be at the fair 3-7p.m. on Wednesday, July 19.
Dorcas Smucker, the common-sense mom from a Harrisburg farm, was for years one of the most popular columnists of the Eugene Register-Guard. From 2006 to 2020 she published six book-length collections of her newspaper essays. And now she has released what she claims will be her final collection, "Coming Home to Roost: A Mennonite Mom Reflects on Life Choices, Adult Children, and Country Living". Smucker will be at the county fair Thursday 1-7p.m. and Saturday 11a.m.-3p.m.
“Murder and Mayhem” is the title of Jennifer Chambers’ latest nonfiction book. Chambers is best known for her biographies of pioneer women, “Remarkable Oregon Women: Revolutionaries & Visionaries.” Her new book is sensational in a different way, describing a dozen of the Willamette Valley’s most famous murder cases. Chambers will be at the fair all day Wednesday and Friday.
The Oregon Authors Table is in the fair’s Performance Hall beside the doors to the glass-roofed atrium. Because the table only has room for about six authors at a time, check the schedule below (or at oregonhiking.com/lanecountyfair) if you want to meet a specific author.
Authors appearing at the fair are:
Wednesday, July 19
11am-3pm, Lisa Lowell (young adult fantasy)
11am-3pm, Cheryl Smith (goats, mystery)
11am-7pm, Joe Blakely (history, novels)
11am-7pm, Jennifer Chambers (Oregon history)
11am-7pm, Caroline Holm (nature poetry)
11am-7pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
3-5pm, Eva Seyler (historical novels)
3-7pm, Terry Evers (fishing memoir)
5-7pm, Patsy Hand (thrillers)
Thursday, July 20
11am-3pm, Carola Dunn (mystery)
11am-5pm, Pat Edwards (Lane County history)
11am-5pm, Donna McFarland (childrens)
11am-7pm, Joe Blakely (history, novels)
11am-7pm, Jason Kilgore (scifi/fantasy)
11am-7pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
1-7pm, Dorcas Smucker (essays/memoir)
5-7pm, David Turner (Oregon history)
Friday, July 21
11am-3pm, Valarie Anderson (WWII biographies)
11am-5pm, Tim Fox (science fiction)
11am-7pm, Joe Blakely (history, novels)
11am-7pm, Jennifer Chambers (Oregon history)
11am-7pm, Jason Kilgore (scifi/fantasy/horror)
11am-7pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
3-7pm, A. Lynn Ash (adventure memoirs)
5-7pm, Paul Neville (novel)
Saturday, July 22
11am-3pm, Dorcas Smucker (essays, memoir)
11am-7pm, Dan Armstrong (historical novels)
11am-7pm, Joe Blakely (history, novels)
11am-7pm, Jason Kilgore (scifi/fantasy/horror)
11am-7pm, Sharleen Nelson (novels)
11am-7pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
3-5pm, Ken Babbs (Merry Prankster memoir)
5-7pm, Dr. M. Jackson (environmental mystery)
Sunday, July 23
11am-1pm, Paul Neville (mystery)
11am-1pm, Roderick Williams (fiction)
11am-5pm, A. Lynn Ash (adventure memoirs)
11am-5pm, Joe Blakely (history, novels)
11am-5pm, Jason Kilgore (scifi/fantasy/horror)
11am-5pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
1-5pm, Dan Liberthson (novels and poetry)
1-5pm, Catherine McGuire (fiction/poetry)