The romance novelist Kay Hooper published 70 books over the course of her career. When she came through Dayton on book tour on this day in 1995, she was marking a milestone: Her novel 'Amanda' was her first book to ever be issued in hardcover.
Prior to that, all the books she had published were released as mass market paperback editions and not in hardcover. That was a big deal for her. Back in the 1990s, many romance novelists made regular stops in Dayton.
Before I began talking to writers about their work on the radio, I had never read any romance novels. Those ladies — they were all ladies — were schooling me on the genre. On this day in November 1995, the author was suffering from a bad cold, so we had to cut her interview short. Even so, I learned a lot about romance novels on that snowy afternoon 30 years ago.
C.J. McLin Jr. was a Dayton funeral director and an influential Miami Valley politician who served many terms in the Ohio Legislature.
When he died in 1988, he had just gotten re-elected again. Not too long before he died, he worked on this project with Dr. Minnie Fells Johnson. Ten years after his death, this book, 'Dad, I Served: The autobiography of C.J. McLin Jr.' as told to Minnie Fels Johnson, was issued. At the time of this interview with Dr. Johnson, she was serving as the executive director of the Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority.
She was a very busy person that day when we spoke on the telephone. She gave me 10 minutes. So our first interview today was cut short because the author was ill, then this one was brief because my guest was so busy. Back in those days, we took what we could get, and we still do!
The Book Nook airs Saturdays at 7 a.m. and Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO 91.3 FM and streams at WYSO.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Tipp City Public Library.
