99% of the interviews I book on this program are arranged via e-mail. I communicate with publicists and authors through the convenient e-mail medium and that is my preferred mode of communication. Now and then there are exceptions to that method of procuring an interview with an author. Here's a memorable example: I was in downtown Yellow Springs at one of my usual haunts, the Underdog Cafe. A gentleman approached me and said; "hey, Vick, how are you doing?" I looked at this fellow and thought; he looks familiar, how do I know him? Sensing my befuddlement he proceeded to identify himself. It was the author Benjamin Whitmer. He was in town visiting his family.
Ben had done a couple of phone interviews with me in the past. I had called him up. He lives in Colorado. I thought, hey, I need to interview him again. I knew that his novel "Cry Father" had recently been issued in paperback. We exchanged a few text messages over the next several days and we arranged for Ben to come over to the station to record another interview. So he did. And Ben brought his daughter along, too. She has to be one of the best behaved kids I have ever met. She never made a sound while we were taping.
We talked about Ben's noir novels "Pike" and "Cry Father." We discussed his work on the late Charlie Louvin's memoir. Ben also provided some glimpses of his ongoing projects; another novel and a possible work of non-fiction that would probably be set in Yellow Springs. If that piques your interest I would suggest that you listen to this interview.
Here's a photo of me with Ben outside the WYSO studios. Ben's daughter took the picture.
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