The Book Signing

I was glad I made it to Lang’s book signing, down at Manuel’s Tavern. There was a decent turnout, and I saw lots of folks I hadn’t seen in a while. Instead of sitting at a table, Lang mingled with the crowd, sitting only to sign.

Edie and Reid were enjoying the scene. Andrew said the twins were back at his parent’s house, that Claire was enjoying a rare night off. She admitted that Andrew’s side of the family was publicizing her new pregnancy more…another set of twins!

Saw Mary Elizabeth Teem for the first time in a long while, and blogger Missy brought daughter Gemma. They didn’t stay long, and though I had a nice quick chat with ME, I hardly got to say hello to Missy. She just moved back to Atlanta from Tifton, wanting to get out of prosecuting, since she’s become a single mom. Last night on her Facebook profile I discovered she has continued to blog, changing blogs every time she changes seasons of life (which for her, is a lot). Her current blog is appropriately “Letters to Gemma.”

Had a nice chat with Bruce, who seems to be back in good health. He’s been working on the IT side of the concert/entertainment business, traveling to locales such as Vegas. Audra was there, chatting with Claire. Rich Morris hasn’t aged, and seems to be his mischievous self. His parents Danny and Connie were well, and we chatted for a long while about children, sports, and his longtime hangout Manuel’s.

Much was made of the favorable Wall Street Journal review, which Isabel had posted as her profile picture on Facebook. I am continually impressed by the graceful way Isabel handles herself. She always says the right thing (as does Lang). After sitting next to her at the Whitaker’s anniversary dinner last fall, I felt like I had been Forrest Gump “chattering on like a monkey.” At Manuel’s Isabel mentioned how she’d somehow became Facebook friends with Anna, and she enjoys keeping up with Anna’s various crazy antics. It was great she was able to take time from her own busy schedule to support Lang.

I’m looking forward to reading the book. I saw Lang’s shoutout to his “Atlanta boys.” Besides Bruce and Matt, I didn’t know any of the others. The Dave could be me, though I’m not 100% sure.

I timed the evening right, staying at Will’s game until seven. Traffic was light the whole way downtown, and I may it from almost Woodstock in just over thirty minutes. On the way home I resisted the urge for fast food, which is rare for me.

Lately I haven’t been able to read Lang that much, either his daily Links column or what he writes in SLAM. Compared to other national writers, he’s always seemed to put a more personal slant on whatever the story is about. It’s been great for me, since I’m usually more interested in Lang’s personal experiences more than whatever his subject is. But I wonder how his editors like that.

I haven’t read the book yet, but it’s certainly interesting that Lang uses Cox and certain key players as comparisons to what he’s gone through in life. It’s interesting how the normally close-to-the-vest Lang has literally opened up his life to the world (something I often feel dumb doing, even on my readerless blog). I wonder if the book’s context is evident enough to be a determining factor to the casual fan browsing in the bookstore, as to whether or not to buy the book.

I looked up the Atlanta Magazine blurb about Lang. There wasn’t much to it, more about Lang than the book. WSJ.com’s review was more personal, telling about when he played JV basketball. I went to a few of those games at North Fulton. By the time he entered college Lang was a pretty decent player.

Tuesday I had lunch with Mark Fallis, who I hadn’t seen in ages. He’s hardly aged, He recently bought Accents in Glass, a small stained glass business in Alpharetta. He and Donna still attend Sandy Springs UMC with Glenn and Noodle. As with Bruce, we discussed the state of the various churches that have impacted our lives over the years.