The UCLA campus was bursting at the seams for the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Saturday, April 27, and Sunday, April 28. The festival was an outdoor, carnival-like event, with close to 300 exhibitors and 1,000 volunteers joining with 140,000 people who visited the fair over two days. The LA Times Book Fair is the largest public book fair in the United States and Mandeville Press had a dual-sized booth presence this year.
The first day of the fair, Saturday, was overcast and a bit chilly, but it didn’t stop hordes of people from coming with family and friends. In the Mandeville Press booth, the day was bright with flowers, bookcases, posters of book covers, smiles, and free bookmarks to hand out to people as they strolled along.
The day took an even brighter turn when John Morton arrived to sign copies of his book, “The Blessings Already Are.” John was generous and loving with his time, staying on past his scheduled signing time to sign additional books and chat with each person who came by. One woman bought twenty books at the booth, determined to share them with family and friends. When John heard this, he topped off her booksigning with a bonus hug.
Both days of the fair were filled with outreach and constant creativity in our booth as we experimented with making the Traveler’s teachings available in welcoming, attractive ways (book expos sure bring out the Martha Stewart in everybody!). The teams of volunteers who came and gave of their time and hearts helped make the festival our most successful yet. Hundreds of books by John-Roger and John Morton went into people’s hands, with incredible discounts as a festival bonus. There were so many opportunities to connect with people, share about John-Roger, John Morton, Soul Transcendence, the teachings of MSIA, and enjoy the beauty of the books, listen to people share about their lives, and laugh together.
A few heartfelt moments included sharing Forgiveness bookmarks with campus police-peace officers, and sharing with a woman who came back to our booth at the end of the day to tell us she had been around the festival all day and had noticed that our booth consistently drew people in. She said, “It must be the good energy here!”
On another occasion, a father came by with his young daughter and looked at some of John-Roger’s books. His daughter stood by his side quietly yet intently. As he turned to leave and continue on, the little girl stood without moving and softly, but clearly, said, “Daddy, I want Spiritual Warrior.” Without a word, he turned and took her hand, and purchased the book. That says it all in terms of the blessings and gifts that come with these events and sharing the teachings of the Spiritual Heart.
On a closing note, throughout the weekend many people were interested to hear about John Morton’s monthly webcast Q&A sessions worlwide on the Internet. Please come and check them out for yourself if you haven’t already, and spread the word with people you meet! The webcasts are an amazing opportunity to participate directly with the John Morton and with the world community. The next webcast is scheduled for Tuesday, June 18, 2002 at 7:30pm PDT. For more information, go to http://www.msia.org/live or call MSIA at (323) 737-4055.
