Speaking Volumes

The ultimate interviewer--the man who sublimates his own agenda to create an atmosphere where authors are encouraged to talk about their lives and passions--will be in Simi Valley and Santa Barbara this week. Brian Lamb, founder and chief executive officer of C-SPAN, and host of Booknotes for nine years, has finally written his own book, a collection of his interviews with major contemporary writers.

Lamb will discuss “Booknotes--America’s Finest Authors on Reading, Writing and the Power of Ideas” at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, 40 Presidential Drive, near Simi Valley. Tickets are $20. Call 522-2977 for details.

The Channel City Club will host Lamb at a noon lunch Wednesday at the Miramar Hotel in Montecito. Nonmember fee is $15. Reservations are necessary. Call 966-6303.

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Margaret Cool signs “The Dream Stalker” at noon today at Mysteries to Die For, 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks.

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Collectible books, curiosities, classics and first editions are among the items for sale at Oxnard Friends of the Library’s annual Donated Books event scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the library, 251 South A St. Proceeds will be used to update computer systems and fund children’s programs.

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Three workshops are scheduled Saturday at Learning Tree University’s Thousand Oaks campus. Kris Neri teaches “Crime Writing” from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Joan Prestine, author of 20 books, leads the “Children’s Picture Book” class from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Richard Cormack will instruct “Using the Internet: A Writer’s Tour of Cyberspace” from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call 497-2292.

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Abraham Polonsky, a blacklisted Hollywood writer-director during the McCarthy era, continued to submit scripts using pen names for 17 years. He will present a short video featuring his work and sign his book, “You Are There,” at 8 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble, 160 S. Westlake Blvd., Thousand Oaks.

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The much-admired best-selling Canadian author Robert Munsch will introduce his new book “Alligator Baby” at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Adventures for Kids, 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura.

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Writer-film historian Michael B. Druxman, a local resident, will lead a fiction seminar and sign his new book, “How to Write a Story . . . Any Story: The Art of Storytelling,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Borders Books, 125 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks.

In Santa Barbara

Noreen Wise, author of “Morning Star,” will explain the essential steps to creating a novel at a fiction-writing workshop at 7 tonight at Borders Books, 900 State St.

Local author Jerry Freedman will sign his legal thriller, “Key Witness,” at a reception co-hosted by Chaucer’s Bookstore and the Intermezzo Cafe at 2 p.m. Sunday at the cafe, 813 Anacapa St.

Aimee Liu based her novel “Cloud Mountain” on the tumultuous lives of her Caucasian grandmother and Chinese grandfather who suffered persecution and racism in California and China from 1906 through World War II. The author will discuss the issues of ethnic identity and racism at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Earthling Bookshop, 1137 State St.

Planned Parenthood of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties will kick off its annual book sale at a wine and cheese reception at 5 p.m. Tuesday at 1501 Chapala St. (the former Danica House building). The $10 opening-night fee entitles book lovers first pick among the thousands of titles available. The sale will continue through Oct. 12.

* Frances Halpern and Jon O’Brien are co-hosts of “Beyond Words” at 10 a.m. Sundays on KCLU-FM (88.3), Ventura County’s National Public Radio station.