BETHESDA—The Racked Inbox tells us that Bethesda Row is having an event with real celebrities this weekend. Starting Thursday Writers On The Row is bringing fashion, food, and fame to our area with a few days of author talks and book signings. The recognizable ones include Michael Wilbon, Richard Belzer, the Georgetown Cupcake sisters, Rosie Pope from Bravo's Pregnant In Heels, and a few others. All the events are free and the full details are in the press release after the jump. [CurbedInbox]
HISTORY WIRE—DC history buffs take note. The new book Frederick Douglas: The Lion of Anacostia has an author talk going on Oct 13 2012 at 1:00 pm at Politics and Prose. [OfficialSite]
WRITERS ON THE ROW
Bethesda Row Premieres Its Four-Day Book Festival October 11-14
Featuring the Best Books on Food, Fashion, Sports and History
from Law & Order: SVU's Richard Belzer, Bravo TV's Rosie Pope, ESPN's Michael Wilbon, DC Cupcakes' Katherine Kallinis Berman and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne, and More
BETHESDA, MD (9/24/12) – Bethesda Row, Bethesda's premier shopping, dining and lifestyle destination, announces its first Writers on the Row series, a weekend-long festival Thursday, October 11 through Sunday, October 14 celebrating food, fashion, fame and more in books from renowned authors. All books will be available for purchase on site. A complete list of participating merchants during Writers on the Row can be found at the end of this release.
The series kicks off Thursday, October 11, 7-9pm, with a signing by Karen Sommer Shalett, editor-in-chief of DC Magazine and contributing author of True Blood: Eats, Drinks and Bites from Bon Temps, and a cooking demonstration of southern classics and True Blood-inspired dishes by Vapiano's chefs made with Le Creuset's line of luxe cooking wares (in blood red, naturally). Secolari will offer Blood orange-infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar tastings on the Lane, while Blue Mercury provides vamp-worthy pouts at the Blood Red Lipstick Bar.
Sports fans can catch legendary sports journalist and co-host of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, Michael Wilbon, from 7-9pm at Equinox Fitness (4905 Elm Street) as he discusses The Best American Sports Writing 2012 and signs copies of the updated anthology. Wilbon wrote for The Washington Post as a sports columnist for more than 20 years and currently serves as a commentator and analyst for ESPN. Following the signing, Vapiano (4900 Hampden Lane) will offer specially priced food and drink.
Friday, October 12 kicks off with a signing and Q&A by celebrity maternity concierge and star of Bravo TV's Pregnant in Heels, Rosie Pope, for the release of her new book, Mommy, from 6:30-8:30pm [Update: The event starts at 6pm]. Pope designs stylish and sophisticated maternity wear for Rosie Pope Maternity and offers a prenatal, postpartum and parenting education class at her MomPrep studio in New York City. To celebrate motherhood and all its peculiarities, Capital Teas will serve a sampling of teas known to counteract pregnancy side effects like nausea and insomnia.
Families and children are invited to Bethesda Row Saturday, October 13, 2-4pm for a reading and signing of Woodrow for President: A Tail of Voting, Campaigns and Elections by best-selling children's author-and-illustrator team Peter and Cheryl Barnes. The perfect way to teach children about campaigning, voting and the election process, the book chronicles Woodrow G. Washingtail on his quest to become "the big cheese," president of the United Mice of America.
On Saturday from 4-6pm, star of Law & Order: SVU and conspiracy theorist, Richard Belzer, will sign copies of his new book and host a Q&A discussing his investigation on the deaths of iconic Americans in Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups. Belzer studies the scientific and forensic facts of various government cover-ups, which he concludes are behind the deaths of Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy.
Following the signings on Saturday, Lebanese Taverna will feature Middle Eastern tasting plates and a glass of champagne for $12, and an on-site henna tattoo artist.
Writers on the Row wraps up with two final events on Sunday, October 14. First, from 1-3pm Washington's favorite cupcake-baking sisters, Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis Berman, will host a discussion, Q&A and sign copies of their new cookbook Sweet Celebrations: Our Favorite Recipes, Memories and Decorating Secrets that Add Sparkle to Any Occasion. The stars of TLC's DC Cupcakes will also give out free cupcakes from their famous cupcakery, Georgetown Cupcake, during the signing.
From 3-5pm, authors behind the hit Capital Girls by Ella Monroe, Marilyn "Maz" Rauber and Amy Reingold, will sign copies of their popular young adult books, dubbed "Gossip Girl, but Washington-ized" by The Washington Post, and read a passage from the first book in the series. The local authors, influenced by their own history living in Washington, DC, write under the pseudonym Ella Monroe about a group of young DC socialites dealing with love, betrayal and friendship, all with a political twist.
Participating Merchants (as of 9/24/12):
Assaggi Mozzarella Bar, 4838 Bethesda Avenue, www.assaggirestaurant.com
BlueMercury, 7105 Bethesda Lane, www.bluemercury.com
Café Deluxe, 4910 Elm Street, www.cafedeluxe.com
Capital Teas, 4806 Bethesda Avenue, www.capitalteas.com
Georgetown Cupcake, 4834 Bethesda Avenue, www.georgetowncupcake.com
Ginger, 7114 Bethesda Lane, www.gingerstyle.com
Jaleo, 7271 Woodmont Avenue, www.jaleo.com
Kidville, 4825 Bethesda Avenue, www.kidville.com
Lebanese Taverna, 7141 Arlington Road, www.lebanesetaverna.com
Le Creuset, 7116 Bethesda Lane
Luke's Lobster, 7129 Bethesda Lane, www.lukeslobster.com
Mon Ami Gabi, 7239 Woodmont Avenue, www.monamigabi.com
Mussel Bar, 7262 Woodmont Avenue, www.musselbar.com
MyEyeDr., 7254 Woodmont Avenue, www.myeyedr.com
Redwood, 7121 Bethesda Lane, www.redwoodbethesda.com
Sassanova, 7134 Bethesda Lane, www.sassanova.com
Secolari, 7249 Woodmont Avenue, www.secolari.comcastbiz.net/
Tara Thai, 4828 Bethesda Avenue, www.tatathai.com
Vapiano, 4900 Hampden Lane, www.vapianointernational.com
Urban Chic, 7126 Bethesda Lane, www.urbanchiconline.com
Yiro/Tugooh Toys, 4823 Bethesda Avenue, www.yirostores.com