Countywide : 32 Schools Host 60 Authors in Festival

By ROBERT BARKER

Jan. 28, 1994 12 AM PT

More than 60 authors of children’s books paid visits to 32 schools in Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Westminster on Thursday, sharing their background in literature and the writing craft with 20,000 pupils.

The Authors’ Festival is sponsored annually by the Friends of the Children’s Library in Huntington Beach and its goal is to offer children a firsthand look at writing and publishing.

One of the participating authors, Ed Radlauer, 72, of La Mirada Heights, has taken part in the program for several years, and was joined by his wife, Ruth, also an author.

Ed Radlauer said children most often ask him how long he has been an author: 30 years; how many books he has written: 200, and much money he makes: “enough to live on.”

“The (local) children are prepared, almost without fail. It’s a great pleasure to serve children when they are ready to learn,” he said, adding that the authors’ visits help the children to become enthusiastic readers.

Some attempt to be writers too, he said. His advice: “Select a subject you like, research it and tell about it.”

Radlauer writes mostly for junior high school children, and about 90% of his work is nonfiction. His biggest-selling book is titled “Earthquakes,” and has sold about 100,000 copies.

Among those attending the festival at William E. Kettler Elementary School in Huntington Beach was Laurel Visser, a fifth-grader. By coincidence Laurel is reading “A Native American Doctor” by Jeri Ferris, who met with upper-grade pupils at the school Thursday.

Laurel learned from Ferris that she most likes to write about people who are famous.

Principal John Magnuson said the festival is a wonderful event, teaching children how stories are generated and how authors connect their experiences to what they want to write about. The children also learn that they have the same kind of experiences that the authors do, Magnuson said.

Library Director Ron Hayden likened the gathering of authors “to missionaries, spreading the word of literature.”