Hundreds Attend Authorfest in Winchester

A few hundred people attended Authorfest Tuesday for the chance to meet authors and illustrators from the New England region.

A combined 16 authors and illustrators visited with Winchester Public School students during the day, followed by a book signing at Town Hall, according to event organizer Ceci Cordeiro. She added that this year's Authorfest was either the 15th or 16th time the event has been held in town.

"We had 14 authors come to the elementary schools, one author did all of (McCall) Middle School and one author visited (Winchester) High School," Cordeiro said. "Each author does three presentations. The kids absolutely love it and it is very exciting for a child to meet an author, and some of these guys are really, really funny, they draw great pictures and they bring in props.

"(Author) Susan Goodman had them all line up, gave them an artifact-type item and had them try to line up in chronological order like which came first: the airplane of the (Boston) Red Sox? And none of the adults knew. It's the Red Sox," Cordeiro said with a chuckle.

The event was organized by the Community Schools Association, which represents all the public schools in Winchester, and also St. Mary's School, a private school, according to Cordeiro. Planning the event took about a year, she added.

"Most of our funding comes from the parents who fund it through the Parent-Teacher Association, (and) our largest funder is Winchester Foundation for Educational Excellence and we could not do it without them," Cordeiro said, adding that the En Ka Society, Book Ends and Massachusetts Cultural Council also served as sponsors. 

Of the authors and illustrators that participated, Maine resident and Winchester native Matt Tavares was the only one with ties to town, while the rest were from Massachusetts, according to Cordeiro. He is an author and illustrator of baseball books, a book about John F. Kennedy, redid "Jack and the Beanstalk" and penned other types of books, according to Cordeiro.

Tavares, who has attended several Authorfests, discussed his experiences at the annual event.

"It is always neat to be able to see a whole bunch of authors at the same time, and it's fun to come here after school to meet a bunch of people and sign a bunch of books," Tavares said.

Here is a look at all the authors and illustrators that participated in Authorfest:

• Matt Tavares
  
• David Biedrzycki
• David Elliott
  
• Marty Kelley
  
• Susan Lubner
  
• Kathleen Duble
• Karen Day
• Jackie Dembar Greene
  
• Amy MacDonald
  
• Susan Goodman
  
• Anna Alter
  
• Jerry Pallotta
• Ralph Masiello
• Brian Lies
• Scott Magoon
• Nancy Poydar