Who is the one author that you had to pinch yourself when you saw them walk onto the Nantucket Book Festival stage?

Louise Penny, who will be back this year. I can say “I knew her when.” We’ve been friends for over fifteen years, when I was at Barnes & Noble and she was just starting out. To see her enjoy so much success and still stay such a wonderful person is really gratifying.

What is in the special sauce that has made the Nantucket Book Festival so successful?

It’s the magic that happens when you combine the world’s best authors with the world’s best readers, on the world’s best island.

What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

From 2016 to 2019, I also managed the Daffodil Festival and Christmas Stroll for the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce.

What was the first book that changed your life?

Little Women. When I was ten, my dad was very ill, and I would sit at his bedside every day after school and read. Little Women was the first time I experienced how a book can totally transport you to a different place and time, so that you can forget your worries for at least a little while. Reading saved my life.

What’s one key lesson or piece of advice you’ve learned from your book festival tenure that you will be taking with you on your next ventures?

Mister Rogers said it best: “Be kind. Be kind. Be kind.”

Roughly how many books do you try to read a year?

About two dozen, although I’ve only had time to read in the fall and winter. Preparing for the book festival takes up all my free time the rest of the year, so diving into my pile of books after the festival ends is my reward.

What advice would you give to someone who has a hard time reading?

Think about the things in life you enjoy and read about those things. Read anything. Don’t let people bully you into thinking that only “high literature” is worthwhile.

What book would you love to see be made into a movie?

I loved Ahab’s Wife (Moby-Dick is one of my favorite books)—[it’s] gorgeously written and set on Nantucket. It could be truly beautiful.

What’s one book you wish hadn’t been made into a movie?

Probably The Time Traveler’s Wife. Another gorgeously written book that is also frustratingly complicated—on purpose. We’re supposed to feel the frustration the protagonist endures when he hops helplessly back and forth in time. The movie couldn’t capture that and opted for a happy ending (boo!).

What should festival-goers know about what goes into making the book festival a success each year?

We have only one staff member (me, and now Kaley Kokomoor). We rely on an extraordinary group of volunteers and contractors who work much harder than you can imagine. Our donors and sponsors have kept us alive, even with no live festivals during the pandemic. All the work of the Nantucket Book Foundation is a labor of love, from readers to readers.

What does this next chapter of your career look like?

Lots of reading. I want to see more of my two grandsons, who weren’t here when I started at the book festival! And then I’m excited to see where life takes me. (It will probably involve a bookstore.)