Move over, Terry Gross: I’m interviewing another superstar this week

Looking for something to do this Thursday night, October 11? Here’s a great idea from the Facebook page of Women And Children First Bookstore in Chicago:

Jean Thompson in conversation with Beth Finke

Join us as we welcome Jean Thompson for a conversation with Beth Finke about Thompson’s new novel, A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl. This event will also include a reading and book-signing.

Women & Children First
5233 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60640
773.769.9299
www.womenandchildrenfirst.com
“Shop as independently as you think”

Jean’s latest is coming soon to a book store near you.

Some background: I met author Jean Thompson 30 years ago (can it really be that long ago now?) when I was perched on a barstool next to Mike at the Esquire Lounge in Champaign, Illinois. I’d only been blind a few months, I didn’t have a Seeing Eye dog yet, and Mike and I were trying to figure out if I could get to the University of Illinois pool on my own to swim laps. Could I make it to the bus stop with my white cane? The locker room, the showers, the edge of the pool…it all seemed daunting. Until the stranger on the other barstool next to me patted my thigh. “I couldn’t help but eavesdrop,” she confessed, introducing herself to ask a question. “Are you talking about getting to the pool on campus?” I nodded.

“That’s easy!” Jean said. She was a swimmer. “I drive over to the campus pool every other day. I’ll just pick you up and take you with me.” And that’s how I met Jean Thompson. During our drives to the pool, I found out she was a writer. A real writer. She taught creative writing at the University of Illinois. Jean was a natural-born teacher, really — she knew when to set me free, let me try taking the bus and handle the pool on my own. I’ve been swimming on my own ever since.

I’ve been Jean’s friend ever since, too, and she continues to be as generous to me as she was on our first chance meeting. This Thursday serves as a great example. When Women and Children First Bookstore in Chicago contacted Jean about the book launch for A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl, they asked her to choose a Chicago author to serve as a moderator. Jean knows a lot of acclaimed Chicago authors, but she told them of one specific author friend she’d like to include in the celebration.

The friend is me, and Women and Children First is going to have copies of Writing Out Loud on hand Thursday night for me to sign for anyone interested, too.

Publishers sent me an advance copy of the audio version of A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl, and honestly and truly, I am loving it. It’s set in an unnamed Midwestern college town, and Jean’s vivid descriptions conjure up Urbana, Illinois — the town where Mike and I met, got married, raised our son Gus, and made so many lifelong friends. It’s a nostalgic pleasure to go back there with Jean, but even better is reading the magical way she weavs together the stories of so called ordinary people into thoughtful and  compelling stories. As Jean’s biggest fan, humorist David Sedaris, says, “no one is beneath her interest…or beyond her reach.”

Please come and hear us in conversation this Thursday, October 11 at 7 pm at Women and Children First Bookstore. It’s going to be fun catching up.