You Never Know

I had a friend in college named Lauren. She was tall, blond, and tough- the kind of girl I always wanted to be. Lauren rowed crew which means getting up ridiculously early for a ridiculously difficult work out. She was loyal, kind, and brilliant. From the looks of things, none of this has changed in the 10 years since I left Amherst.

My favorite story about Lauren involves a bar, dancing, and some pushy women from another school. It ends with punches thrown and Lauren keeping a Corona bottle in her hands as we left "just in case!" The stuff that college legends are made of. (At least at small New England schools where that kind of thing is rare.)

I hadn't seen her in about 6 years. Then, I read in the alumni magazine that she's married her college sweetheart and had a baby boy.

And in between all that, it turns out she is a fantastic writer. Lauren Groff wrote "Monsters of Templeton" which has been named an "essential title of foreign literature for 2008" from La Fnac. It's also a New York Times Bestseller- quite an honor.

Anyway, she'll be in town signing books this weekend if you are interested. Here are dates and locations. I'm hoping to make it to Oakland on Sunday to say hi and buy a book. Gotta support young genius, ya know?