Postscripts

Garry Mauro read, or at least was scheduled to read last Wednesday from his recently published book, Beaches, Bureaucrats, and Big Oil at BookPeople. But something happened on the way to that event that prevented its occurrence, namely a group of protesters, about 10 in number, who were upset with Mauro's role in the recent Triangle Square development. Apparently, Mauro began taking questions at the event, but each question centered not on his book but on development issues. Observers say Mauro asked that questions concentrate on his book, but did not get his wishes. The event was then scrapped, although BookPeople reports that Mauro's appearance did generate a large crowd, about 20% of which were protesters; the store also reports that sales of the book that particular night were "excellent." Perhaps, reading or not, the event was proof of Warhol's assertion that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Western Tales

Barnes & Noble has a couple of author appearances coming up that catch attention: On Tuesday, July 22, at 7pm, the Arboretum store hosts Dr. Robert Pickering, head of the Department of Anthropology at the Denver Museum of Natural History, who has recently written Seeing the White Buffalo, which chronicles from both scientific and cultural perspectives the extremely rare birth of a white buffalo calf named Miracle in southern Wisconsin. Looking back at that sentence, it seems like this might be a boring book, but I've read it and I assure you it's not! On Wednesday, July 23, at 7pm, the Westlake store's Texana Book Group hosts Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Mike Cox, who will be talking about his book Texas Ranger Tales.

Searching for Justice

On Saturday, July 19, at 7pm, Jennifer Harbury of Weslaco, who has written Searching for Everardo: A Story of Love, War, and the CIA in Guatemala, will be hosted by BookPeople and the Foundation for a Compassionate Society. The book is an intense account of Harbury's attempts to ferret out what happened to her husband Efráin Bámaca Velásquez, a high-level Mayan resistance leader who was captured by the Guatemalan army in 1992, tortured, and later assasinated. Harbury will discuss her efforts to learn the truth behind her husband's death. See "In Person," page 41.

Black & Blue(s)

Texas Folklife Resources is planning the second installation of their three-series program The Language of Tradition for Saturday, July 26 at 7:30pm at Victory Grill (1104 East 11th). TFR will host All Black and Some Blues, to feature local blues legends T.D. Bell and Mel Davis; author of 55 children's books, cook, and storyteller Angela Shelf-Medearis; rap group N.O.O.K. (Never Outcasting Our Kind); and Reverend Mack Williams will appear again after his great reception at TFR's first program The Cowboy Way. That program drew in about 100 more people than could fit in the Dougherty Arts Center, and, though free, it looks as if seating will be limited at this event as well, so get there early!

Ongoing: Don Bachardy's exhibit Confrontations, portraits of famous literary figures like Tennessee Williams, E.M. Forster, Anais Nin, W.H. Auden, and Lilian Hellman among others, is showing at the Leeds Gallery at the Flawn Academic Center on the UT campus until August 15. Bachardy's portraits hedge the fine line between formal and frenetic; they are clear, elegant insights into literary figures to which we readers rarely receive such benign, open access.

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Book news for "Post Scripts" must be received at least one week before the issue date. Mail to: The Austin Chronicle, PO Box 49066, Austin, TX 78765; fax 458-6910; or e-mail [email protected].