My Favorite Author Meeting Experience To Date!

Me with author, Thomas Steinbeck,  in November 2011

In 2011, the year before I began blogging, my husband and I had the wonderful of opportunity of meeting Thomas Steinbeck (eldest son of legendary author and Nobel Prize for Literature winner, John Steinbeck) at Chaucer's Bookstore in Santa Barbara, California in November 2011 at an author book signing event. This wasn't the first time we'd met Thomas Steinbeck in person, but I'll get to that in a moment.

I've been blessed to meet several authors in person at either author signing events at independent bookstores or at book festivals. However, briefly meeting Thomas Steinbeck twice in person happens to be one of my most memorable and favorite author meeting experiences ever and I'd yet to read any of his books at the time I met him!! 

What made meeting Thomas Steinbeck in person so rewarding was how personable and nice he was. He took a lot of time speaking with each person who came to meet him at Chaucer's Bookstore and then signed copies of his novels for each fan. Above is a picture of me with Thomas Steinbeck at Chaucer's Bookstore the evening he came to sign books in 2011.

My husband and I also briefly met Thomas Steinbeck and his wife, Gail, at an event called Speaking of Stories at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, California. One of Thomas Steinbeck's short stories was being read that evening along with several other short stories written by other writers. It just so happened (unbeknownst to my husband and me at the time) that both Thomas Steinbeck and his wife were sitting in the audience right next to us. We only discovered that they were sitting next to us when an announcement was made at the start of Speaking of Stories. It was a delight speaking with them both briefly during the intermission.

Sadly, Thomas Steinbeck passed away in August 2016 at age 72.

Which author or authors have you met in person that have made a positive impression on you?