The Hills Are Alive......Tra La La!

The hills are alive with the sound of music....right away you thought Julie Andrews, right! Well, I think my most favorite time at ALA was getting to be at an author presentation by Julie Andrews. Wishing I hadn't forgotten my camera, but so glad Jodi Oberweiser hadn't. The cheering and clapping was thunderous as she walked on to the stage. Then after viewing some famous movie clips of her(one being the Sound of Music), Julie Andrews spoke about how she had come to be a writer, starting very young with her tutor. She doesn't like to be known as a celebrity author as she reminded us that she had written The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles over thirty years ago and has a trunk full of pictures drawn from that book and sent to her. Writing, for her, is an extension of her acting and singing. She shared her growing up years and how she had used libraries and how much books and stories mean to her. Now Julie Andrews writes with her daughter and together they have the Julie Andrew Collection---Words. Wisdom. Wonder. The really terrific news is that she announced that the ALA president had asked her to be next year's spokeperson for National Library Week and she said, "YES"!