Book Festival – Benjamin L. Clark, writer

19 April 202319 April 2023

Celebrate the Art of Newspaper Comics and Support a Great Cause at the North Bay Letterpress Arts — Saturday, April 22

If you’re a fan of newspaper comics and letterpress printing and live in the North Bay Area, you won’t want to miss a special event hosted by the North Bay Letterpress Arts organization on Saturday, April 22nd. The “Sunday Funnies” event will feature a conversation with Benjamin L. Clark (me), Maia Kobabe, and Andrew Mecum, the Executive Director of NBLA, about the relationship between printing, comics, and beyond.

Maia Kobabe, who was once a member of NBLA, is an accomplished author and artist who has created beautiful books. Eir graphic novel, Gender Queer, has been widely banned (boo!), bringing em major media attention, interviews, (and a new book deal).

In addition to the conversation, there will be a short movie about the subject, live printing demonstrations, and fundraising party tricks. All guests will be treated to coffee from Retrograde, tea, donuts, and other fun snacks throughout the event.

This year, the month of May is also a memorial tribute to Dennis Renault, a political cartoonist and letterpress printer who sold Eric Johnson his iron hand press. Unfortunately, Renault passed away last fall. Examples of his work will be on display at the event, showcasing his life and legacy that perfectly embodies the spirit and wit of the “Sunday Funnies” event.

The event will take place at the North Bay Letterpress Arts studio, located at 925-D Gravenstein Hwy S, in Sebastopol, California. Doors will open at 4:00 PM, with the event ending at 6:30 PM. Sliding scale donations will be accepted in person at the event, or you can donate ahead of time online. Be sure to leave a note that it’s for the event or email the organizers.

All proceeds from the event will support the mission of NBLA, which is to democratize letterpress, lower the barrier of entry, and create more access for a wider audience, especially youth in the community. This year, NBLA is generously supported by a grant from the California Arts Council, along with support from local sponsors such as Sonoma County Libraries, the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, the Cartoon Art Museum, Blackwing pencils, and Retrograde Coffee.

Join us for an afternoon of fascinating insights into the world of newspaper comics and letterpress printing while supporting a great cause. We hope to see you there!

NB: This post was partially written with ChatGPT tools.

3 December 201821 February 2020

Remembering Todd Bol – Little Free Libraries Founder

My wife and I love books. Books were a big part of our mutual attraction early in our relationship. In early October 2015, we decided to take a few days off and attend the Iowa City Book Festival. It was cold, but it was a joyous trip — our first as a little family since our son was born a couple months earlier in July. The book festival happened to coincide with a food writers conference my wife wanted to attend there, but there was plenty for me and our infant son to enjoy too with all the book-ish fun. I had the huge thrill of meeting Sara Paretsky, and visiting the Szathmary Culinary collection at Iowa State University. And of course, buying lots of books.

Todd Bol building a Little Free Library in Iowa City, Iowa in October 2015.

But the biggest thrill was meeting Todd Bol and getting to spend a little time with him.
Todd was there to help promote Margaret Aldrich’s new title (at the time) The Little Free Library Book and to help build some Little Free Libraries for local organizations. So, there he was on the plaza running through the historic part of Iowa City on a windy, cold day in October, in his sports coat, knocking together Little Free Libraries … by himself. I don’t know if no one else was supposed to be there, or I just happened to come across in-between shifts of helpers, but there he was. So, I helped. I had my baby with me, (his Mom was in a session), and Todd and I built a couple LFLs while my baby boy napped in his stroller, bundled against the chill. Todd had turned up the little collar on his jacket. It couldn’t have helped much. I remember being cold too. I think we were all caught by surprise by the weather.

I don’t remember exactly what we talked about. I had wanted to build a Little Free Library for a while, but being a new Dad, working full-time, and just about any other convenient excuses, I hadn’t gotten it done. He encouraged me as a new Dad. He encouraged me to build the LFL, I remember and we talked design — I was planning to use a discarded kitchen cabinet as the starting point. I remember he was kind and appreciative, even though he had built an untold number of the little book boxes by then.

I bought one of the books and grabbed all the LFL swag I could in good conscience. I really regret, especially now that he’s gone, I didn’t get a picture of he and I together.

I went home that fall and started my own Little Free Library, with the help of my Dad. It was a fun project and we got it installed and the neighborhood loved it. We’ve since moved houses, moved states, but the Little Free Library was still at that old house, serving the community around it. In fact, it was a feature the buyers loved about our house. Take that, curb appeal! A Little Free Library will help sell your house! It also does a lot of good for you and your neighbors.

So, if you happen to have a yellow and purple Little Free Library, Charter #25387: Todd Bol himself and I built that one. According to the Little Free Library Map, that one is located in Pittsburgh at Falconhurst Park!

Rest in peace, Todd. Thank you.

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About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes and works as a museum curator.

13 September 2011

2011 Montana Festival of the Book

The new art is out, and they’ve now released the roster of presenters too! On the list, I’m between Edwardo Chirinos and John Clayton. They’ve also released a schedule of sorts— I’m sure there will be tweaks, but it’s great to see it finally. Looks like they’ve settled my seminar on book collecting into a great spot on Saturday afternoon.

Overall– I’m pretty excited. I’ve not had many chances to promote book collecting in a flesh and blood setting, but I’m thrilled to get the chance. Surely I’ll wish I could have changed something by the end of it, but that’s what next year is for, right?

If you’re in Montana, don’t miss out– heck from my desk, almost the entire state of Idaho and most of Washington, Utah and Wyoming are closer than I am, so come on out Oct. 6-8 to Missoula, Montana, one of Montana’s gem cities. I’m sure you’ll be glad you did.