The sold-out event was moderated by exhibit curators Fabrizio La Rocca and Roberto Maria Clemente. Many Penguin Random House designers, past and present, were able to attend the panel, along with excited book and design lovers from across NYC. Topics covered include favorite designs, common pitfalls when designing for books, and how to keep their creative juices flowing. In case you missed it, the Be My Cover exhibit will be on display in the lobby at 1745 Broadway during Company Week (June 18 – 22). To read a transcript of the Be My Cover Strand conversation with our designers, click here. Watch a video of the event below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBQaX0mP-TE&feature=youtu.be

[caption id="attachment_112201" align="alignright" width="300"] Marian Wood[/caption] Ivan introduced Sue’s longtime editor Marian Wood, who told the story of discovering Sue after receiving the first 60-pages of A IS FOR ALIBI. After devouring them overnight and initially receiving pushback from her publisher at the time, Marian and those of her colleagues who believed that Sue was something special pushed the Alphabet Series to mega-success over the course of thirty-five years, now with untold millions of copies sold around the world in twenty-six languages. Sue’s literary agent Molly Friedrich, together since B IS FOR BURGLAR, gave an emotional speech about her last visit with Sue just a few months before she passed. At the time, Sue was undergoing chemotherapy, but she still baked Molly a birthday cake from scratch. “I had assumed my birthday cake would be made by Liz Gastiger, their long-term chef and friend. But no, Sue had made my cake herself: a perfect lemon genoise with buttercream frosting,” Friedrich said. “There’s something so deeply moving about this beloved writer, not an ounce over ninety pounds, baking me a sublime birthday cake.” After Lucy Carson of the Friedrich Agency read a remembrance from Judy Kaye, the voice of Kinsey Millhone in the audiobook editions of the Alphabet, author and journalist Sarah Weinman shared what she loved about Sue’s novels: “Trailblazers don’t announce themselves upon arrival…The two qualities I appreciated most about Grafton were her loyalty, and her restlessness. She stayed true to Kinsey and the series conceit for her entire career, yes, but did not allow herself to stagnate, writing the same book over and over again…Sue Grafton died too soon, but she remained in control till the end. She had not begun writing the final book in the series, which was to be published in August 2019 as Z is for Zero. That leaves us with Grafton’s last published words, as always both ‘respectfully submitted’ and sharply delivered by Kinsey: ‘I’m not saying justice is for sale, but if you have enough money, you can sometimes enjoy the benefits of a short-term lease.’” [caption id="attachment_112200" align="alignleft" width="300"] Harlan Coben[/caption] Author Michael Connelly told heartfelt stories, then author J.R. Ward reflected on her friendship with Sue. They first met when Sue agreed to read her manuscript: “She had this bizarre thing where she’d read 50 pages of anyone’s work. The only condition was that you had to be willing to take her criticism. Years later, I would ask her why the hell she would do that, and she said, ‘Because the shitshows are even better than the good stuff!’ [When we first met to discuss my manuscript], she gave me more information in that hour than I had had about writing in the ten years that I was trying to get published.” Bird finished her speech by recalling the last time she saw Sue, at a holiday party late last year. “I thought I had more time,” she said. “And that’s the problem with life—you can’t see how few pages are left.” An emotional remembrance of Sue was delivered by bestselling author Harlan Coben, a fan of her books before they became close friends. “We all have people in our life who make every room better,” he began. “Every place that they happen to be in is just a little better because they were there. Sue was certainly one of those people … She was funny, she was biting, she was honest, irreverent, intelligent, warm, inquisitive, insightful. She was cutting, and most of all … she was generous.” Towards the end of his speech, Coben revealed that his “alphabet letters” tie included all of the letters except Z—a perfect tribute to Sue and her legacy, which he gave to Sue’s husband after the ceremony. [caption id="attachment_112203" align="alignright" width="300"] Steve Humphrey[/caption] Finally, Sue’s daughter Jamie Clark and her husband Steve Humphrey shared recollections of what Sue was like as a mother and wife. “I’m going to tell you a little about what my mother taught me,” Clark began. “My mother taught me about persistence, just by the way she lived her life. She wasn’t just an author, she was a writer. She wrote every single day. Rain or shine … My mother was a force of nature—not the destructive kind like a tornado or hurricane, but the gentle creative kind, like the spring sunshine that melts the snow and coaxes the flowers to bloom … For as long as there have been mothers and daughters, their relationships have been complicated. But not ours. Somehow, I lucked out when I stood in line for a mom. She was one of the best people I’ve ever known.” Humphrey began his speech by recalling how he and Sue first met, when they lived in the same apartment building. At the time, Sue was “a single mom raising two children … [She] and I had cats, and we would watch them play together in the courtyard between our apartments, her on the ground floor, me on the second, and make inane comments about how cute they were… That was the beginning of a forty-three year love affair. She adored me. I adored her. I consider myself to be infinitely blessed and fortunate. How many people get to find the love of their life at 23? And those of you who only knew her through her work, or only knew her professionally, really missed out. As brilliant as she was as a writer, and as disciplined as she was in her work, she was a much, much, much better wife, mother, friend and human being.” Following these heartfelt, funny, warm and sassy remembrances of Sue, the group toasted Sue’s life, work and friendship with some of Sue (and Kinsey’s) favorites: glasses of buttery chardonnay and triangles of peanut butter and pickle sandwiches.

The Crown presentation featured Campbell Wharton, Associate Publisher, Currency; Group; Derek Reed, Editor, Convergent; Donna Passannante, Vice President, Executive Director, Marketing, Crown Publishing Group; Carisa Hays, Vice President, Executive Director of Publicity, Crown Publishing Group; and Megan Schumann, Manager, Publicity, Crown Publishing Group. They provided insights into the acquisition, editing and publishing processes as well as marketing and publicity campaigns for the book, and how it could help change the conversation about charities and our personal involvement in good works. The event concluded with a lively question & answer session. A few days later, NYU student Amanda Orozco wrote a wonderful blog post titled “Thirst for Change: Crown Publishing and Author Scott Harrison Team Up to Make a Difference.” Here is an excerpt: “What if… ?” This question is a leitmotif for Scott Harrison’s life and new book. What if a nightclub promoter wanted to do more with his time? What if he gave up the New York club scene to help people in developing African nations have clean water? What if he started a charity, charity: water, that put 100% of its donations into building wells in African nations with poor or polluted water supplies? What if his efforts helped 7.3 million people in Africa finally have clean drinking water and a reduction in disease? What if he could grow his charity from two people to over 70 in less than ten years? What if he could raise $3 million in less than 15 minutes? What if he could change the way charities are run forever… and change lives? “NYU M.S. in Publishing: Digital & Print Media students found out the answers to these and other questions when they were invited to be early readers of THIRST, Harrison’s forthcoming memoir. They were given special reading galleys in preparation for a recent visit to Harrison’s publisher, the Crown Publishing Group. During their visit, the students got to hear the story behind the story – the amazing publishing process of this book – from the members of the team that are bringing the book to life.” To read the complete NYU blog post, click here. Please note: author Scott Harrison will be featured at a Penguin Random House “Lunch & Learn” on Tuesday, June 5 at 1745 Broadway. Check back on Igloo for details in the coming days.

  Where did you go and what kind of “to-do” list did you have? I went to all these cities for the first time: – Hong Kong – Taipei – Singapore – Tokyo – Osaka – Kobe – Kyoto – Seoul – Beijing – Shanghai – Macau I stayed anywhere from two to five nights, but I only made day trips to Kobe and Macau.  I flew from NYC to and from Hong Kong, so I stayed there and Tokyo twice.  My “to do” list comprised of (1) walking as much as I could through downtown areas, (2) sampling local, if not outlandish, food, (3) hitting up museums, (4) trying to see daily life in these huge cities.  I like “touristy” things such as going up skyscraper observatories and checking out local markets or just staring at a memorable skyline. What was involved in planning and deciding how to spend your sabbatical? I had decided to visit these places about two years ago.  I was first eligible for sabbatical in early 2017, but my work schedule didn’t permit it, so I postponed things a year to early 2018.  I actually flew out on Dec 23^rd just as our week off for the holidays began, and my manager let me take a week of regular vacation at the end of Jan into early Feb to enable me to be out for six weeks.  I wanted to squeeze in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, but shortening each city’s stay and the extra 24 hours of travel time wouldn’t have been worth the effort. The planning was a bit of a headache.  I knew I would be traveling alone, so I had some  flexibility with the departure, arrival and length of stay, but I also knew the moment I booked the flights that I’d have to reserve the hotel rooms, and that translated to 41 nights in 11 hotel stays.  After mulling things over for months and checking airfares almost nightly, I finally booked everything the first weekend in October.  Soon after booking everything is when I bought the website and domain for my food blog, The Food Doof.   While I think the food write-ups are amateurish and inane, though honest, there are some decent photos and videos posted on there.  I’ll try to maintain it for future food-and-travel sojourns. I also packed as lightly as I could, bringing only about four days of clothes.  I wanted my luggage as a carry-on bag because I knew that would enable me to leave the airport as soon as I cleared customs.  Not having to wait at the baggage conveyor belt probably saved me 30 minutes at each of the nine airport arrivals.  And it wasn’t too inconvenient to do laundry twice a week, I guess. What book(s) did pack for your trip? I finished a biography on the famed conductor, Herbert von Karajan, on the flight from JFK to Hong Kong.  It was hard cover and because I was packing so lightly, it couldn’t fit in my backpack.  So I left it at the airport when I arrived.  I also had a paperback copy of Anthony Bourdain’s “A Cook’s Tour,” but I didn’t read it. What will be some of your most enduring memories of this sabbatical? I was glad to see with my own four eyes that each of these cities was loaded with masses of regular commuters who are working stiffs like so many of us on this side of the world.  It was also a little eerie being functionally illiterate and mute most of my time there since I only speak English.  But that helped keep me alert, I think.  And while I didn’t know anyone going into any of these places, I did meet a few people while dining alone, and I’m glad to have kept in touch with them.  The food was dynamite at almost all of my destinations, but I knew that part of the trip was really just an excuse to head out there and visit.  The walking around, the sightseeing, the people watching proved much more memorable.  Well, there were three or four meals that were out of this world…. As for specific memories, the night I went to the symphony at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall was pretty neat.  Before the conductor came out, there was a standing ovation given to Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko as they walked out slowly to the front of the balcony.  There were as close as 15’ away from me while there on the walkway.  I asked the woman to my right as they walked in, “isn’t that the Emperor?”  She replied, “sorry, I don’t speak English.”  We Americans, I tell ya….  Anyhow, the couple were greeted with another huge ovation as they departed at the start of intermission.  It’s unfortunate they didn’t stay for the second half as that had the more famous music! Let’s see…the trip to the Great Wall while in Beijing was also very cool, and though it was cold that day, I lucked out with blue skies.  Also, my last day in Tokyo I was able to attend a tuna auction at the Tsukiji Fish Market, the world’s largest.  If I had $70,000 handy, I would’ve taken off my visitor’s vest and snuck in to purchase one, but I wouldn’t have been able to “make sure the item was tucked away firmly in the overhead compartments or underneath the seat in front of me.”  

The producer of the video, Lydia Cornett, Associate Video Producer, Digital Publishing Development, says, “360 video is great for immersing a viewer in a place, and Penguin Random House’s Crawfordsville Fulfillment Center seemed like a particularly exciting location to do this.” Annette offers this insight:  “Lydia and I met, and I explained what we do here in the Distribution Center and I learned about what she wanted to film. We have two different facilities so when I realized that it was a 360 degree camera I knew that we had to film in Crawfordsville as the elevations and the video path would be so much better in there due to the slight differences in conveyor design. I then had to convince Lydia to make the trip to Crawfordsville!  Once Lydia got the approvals I put her in touch with Lori Dereza (Vice President, Crawfordsville Operations) to schedule the filming. Mark Wollenberg (Assistant Director, Crawfordsville Fulfillment) did a test for us by taping a camera to a carton riding the conveyor, sorter, and fork trucks. Then we planned out the sequence for the filming.” “To make a 360 video,” says Lydia, “it’s important to create a shot list and think about where to position the camera so that it’s in the middle of the most action.  Since the camera records in 360 degrees, you also have to get into the habit of pressing record and leaving the space so you’re not in the shot.  I also incorporated voiceover as a way to understand what was happening in each scene. Annette did an awesome job with explaining the process!” Annette says, “The end product is awesome and I’m excited to explore how we can use this technology again!  We can use this video to help explain the warehouse operations to new employees.”  Her favorite part? “I have always wanted to ride the conveyor systems, and through this video I was able to do that.” Watch the Crawfordsville 360 video (For optimal viewing resolution click the gear icon in the lower right hand corner of the YouTube viewing screen, and change ‘Quality’ to the highest number. To get the full experience use Chrome or Firefox) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYRzcSkY0TE

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