As The Globe Spins

Over the past 30 years, Bill Berloni has trained countless animals—including cats and dogs, pigs and rats—to perform in Broadway productions and Hollywood films, starting with the original Sandy in the musical Annie in the late 70s. Incredibly, all the animals Berloni has worked with came from shelters.

In his book, Broadway Tails, Berloni recounts the stories of these “throw-away” animals who went on to become showbiz superstars. Recently, Berloni stopped by the GPP offices, where we got a chance to sit down and discuss his book, his career, and some of the fascinating furry creatures who've graced the Broadway stage (no, I'm not talking about George Wendt):

Bill Berloni will talk about Broadway Tails at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT, on October 16, at 7 PM.

Step aside, Boston Pops:

I’d never been to Outdoor Retailer before, so I arrived in Salt Lake City last week bearing no fond memories or emotional scars from previous shows. Not so my seasoned colleagues. For some, this was their 18th or 20th time working the floor, so over dinner, or during slow moments in the booth, they invariably reminisced about shows past. And when they did, I reached for my Flip Camera.

In the following clips, Larry Seidl recalls how, at his first show, he worried he'd be forced to "sleep with a guy I'd never met before"; Mark Downey recounts how he landed his current job while angling to trade a pair of shoes for books; and Max Phelps describes the tornado that caused a stampede on the show floor and actually killed a worker. Plus, first-time attendee John Groton offers his impressions of O.R.

Hans Florine leads some life. He's a successful author, he's married to a former supermodel, and--perhaps most enviably--he lives in the Bay Area. Oh, he's also a legendary climber who set the world's record this summer for scrambling up El Capitan in Yosemite National Park faster than anyone before--3,000 feet, straight up, in just over 2 1/2 hours. Hans stopped by the booth at OR and told me about his historic ascent, as well as his recent, aptly titled book, Speed Climbing!: How to Climb Faster and Better:

Writer, photographer, and outdoor adventurer Stewart Green is the author of, count 'em, 18 books--most for GPP and FalconGuides. Since March, he has run About.com's climbing site. I got a chance to sit down with Stewart at OR to discuss his blog, the K2 tragedy, and his latest book for Falcon, Rocky Mountain National Park Pocket Guide, complete with nifty PopOut maps.

Falcon author Eric Horst met fans and signed copies of Conditioning for Climbers:

Take a virtual of the GPP booth at the Summer Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City, and hear what Max Phelps, our director of marketing and sales development for outdoor books, has to say about this year's conference and the FalconGuides brand:
 

Ready or not, outdoor retailers, the 2008 OR summer trade show in Salt Lake City begins today. And we at GPP feel ready, even as we cross our fingers that GES Services has finally got our furniture order straight.  For example, we requested five chrome and maple chairs, and received two. We asked for two bar stools, and got none. We wanted two cafe tables, and were given three... Minor details. Bring on the show!... If you're at the OR, stop by our booth, number 33035, and say hello. I'm the guy with the shaved head--not to be confused with Larry Seidl, who's bald, and much, much, older.

Good news: I opened the USA Today outside my hotel door to find a great interview with Chris Fair, author of Cuisines of the Axis of Evil, on page 4D in the Life section. The writer, Jayne Clark, attended our dinner party for Cuisines in DC a couple weeks ago (see previous post.) My favorite line from the Q&A: "I regret not eating rat in Burma. In point of fact, rat is probably no different than chicken." Hmmm. This renews my old suspicions about Chicken McNuggets.

Meanwhile, back home: Inger Forland, my boss at GPP, reports that the dinner the other night at Zarela's in New York celebrating the publication of Congresswoman Diana DeGette's Sex, Science, and Stem Cells was a big success. To the right is a picture of DeGette with, from left, her husband, Lino, daughter, Frannie, and GPP's own Dapper Dan, Gene Brissie. (Incidentally, I hear 14-year-old Frannie and GPP president Scott Watrous have exactly the same taste in music, which I find alarming. How Frannie can stand Hannah Montana is beyond me.)

As anyone who works at GPP can tell you, Justin Loeber of Mouth Public Relations can pitch books like the best of them. But can he grill a burger without burning it? This was just one question that arose during the Mouth company cookout at Justin's house in Norwalk, CT. Others included: Does Khuong Phan have a shot at becoming a hand model? Are Khuong and Justin lovers? Will I ever find my way out of the deep, dark woods surrounding Justin's home? For answers to these questions and more, check out my video report here:

On Tuesday night, the New York social set showed up at Michael’s to fete Nicole Sexton and Party Favors, her comic novel about the seamy side of the political fundraising world. The party was hosted by Nicole’s mother, Marlyne Sexton, Somers Farkas, and Margo MacNabb, and attendees included Broadway producer Marty Richards and Lauren Bush who, though not feeling well, made an appearance and grabbed a copy of the book before she fled.

For those who missed all the glitz, I walked through the party with a Flip Camera. That’s Susan Johnston, Nicole’s co-author, who I caught with her mouth full. And, yes, you’ll see Kathleen Turner in the crowd—not once, but twice.

Maura Teitelbaum, Nicole’s irrepressible agent, introduced Nicole with a rousing speech that was part Norma Rae, part Elmer Gantry: