events

Art Exhibits

August 2010

Allegro Framing and Art
3130 Alpine Road
Portola Valley, CA
(650) 851-4300

Milestones Preschool art exhibit
Palo Alto Children's Library
1276 Harriet Street
Palo Alto, CA
(650) 329-2134

November 13, 2010 10:30 am - 3 pm

Abilities United Authors Luncheon
Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel
4290 El Camino Real
Palo Alto, CA 94040
(650) 857-0787

Ongoing

Design Loft
415 Clyde Avenue, Suite 102
Mountain View, CA 94043

Assemblymember Ira Ruskin office
5050 El Camino Real
Suite 117
Los Altos, CA 94022
(650) 691-2121

Abilities United Aquathon

Abilities United Aquathon
Saturday, September 11, 2010
8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Sunnyvale Swim Complex
Fremont High School
1279 Sunnyvale Saratoga Road
Sunnyvale, CA 94087

(650) 618-3329 or email

The event consists of a friendly swim competition staged by more than 50 Silicon Valley companies such as Cisco Systems, City of Palo Alto, eBay, Google, Intel, Intuit, Northrup Grumman, SRI, and YMCA. The event is expected to draw over 600 people.

The Abilities United Aquathon is a great team building event so if you would like to enjoy a fun filled day of competition for a good cause, call (650) 618-3329, or email or register online.

Abilities United Authors Luncheon

Please join us at one of the most important literary events in Northern California.

19h Annual Authors Luncheon
Saturday, November 13, 2010
10:30 am - 3 pm
Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel - Palo Alto

The luncheon will feature four acclaimed authors who will discuss their books, share stories about their writing experiences, and offer insight into the inspiration behind their characters. Since it began in 1991, each year the Abilities United Authors Luncheon has drawn more than 650 guests who have been entertained by some of the world's most renowned authors.

Individual seats are $125

Sponsorship tables of 10 provide you with preferred seating and promotional benefits at the following levels:

Best Seller ($10,000+)
First Edition ($5,000)
Choice Chapter ($3,000)
Page Turner ($2,000)

If you have any questions or would like to purchase a ticket or sponsor the Authors Luncheon, please call (650) 618-3330 or email.

Book sales benefit Abilities United and are managed by Books Inc.

Abilities United also benefits from any purchase you make through this link to the Books Inc. website.

2010 Authors

Sponsors of the 19th Annual Authors Luncheon

"Best Seller" Sponsors
Laurie and Jim Jarrett
Anonymous Friends

"First Edition" Sponsors
Ellen and Tom Ehrlich
Bill Younger

"Choice Chapter" Sponsors
Borel Private Bank
Morrison and Foerster Foundation
Ellen and Bob Jones
Toni Heren
Rachel and Simon Segars

Media Sponsor

Book Sales Sponsor

Print Sponsor

Art Showcase Sponsor

Dessert Sponsor

2010 Author Information and Bios

Mac Barnett

Buy his children's books at Books Inc.

The Clock without a Face, Oh No! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World), Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem, The Ghostwriter Secret, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity, and Guess Again!

Mac Barnett is a rising star in the literary industry. Born to non-farmers in a California farming community, Mac now lives near San Francisco. He's on the board of directors of 826LA, a nonprofit writing center for students in Los Angeles, and he founded the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, a convenience store for time travelers. He is the author of The Clock without a Face, Oh No! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World), Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem, The Ghostwriter Secret, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity, and Guess Again!

Julia Glass

Buy her novels at Books Inc.
The Widower's Tale, Three Junes, The Whole World Over, I See You Everywhere

Julia Glass is the author of Three Junes, winner of the 2002 National Book Award for Fiction; The Whole World Over; and I See You Everywhere, winner of the 2009 Binghamton University John Gardner Book Award. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Her short fiction has won several prizes, and her personal essays have been widely anthologized. The Widower's Tale will be released on September 7, 2010. She lives in Massachusetts with her family.

Mary Roach

Buy her books at Books Inc.
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Mary Roach is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (April, 2009), Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Stiff was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick for 2003, a Northern California Book Awards finalist, and an American Library Association Alex Award (for adult books that appeal to young adults) winner. Spook was a New York Times Notable Book for 2005. Bonk was chosen as a 2008 best book by the San Francisco Chronicle, the St. Louis-Post Dispatch, and the Boston Globe. Her newest book, Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void was released on August 8. Ms. Roach’s books have been translated into 26 languages, Mary lives in Oakland, California, with her husband Ed and works in an office with seven other writers.

Simon Winchester

Buy his books at Books Inc.
ATLANTIC (November 2010 release), The Man Who Loved China, The River at the Center of the World, The Professor and the Madman; The Fracture Zone; A Return to the Balkans, The Map that Changed the World

Simon Winchester, author, journalist, and broadcaster, has worked as a foreign correspondent for most of his career. His books cover a wide range of subjects, including The River at the Center of the World, about China’s Yangtze River; the best-selling The Professor and the Madman; The Fracture Zone; A Return to the Balkans, which recounts his journey from Austria to Turkey during the 1999 Kosovo crisis; and the best-selling The Map that Changed the World, about the nineteenth century geologist William Smith. Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 was published in April 2003 and A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 was published in the fall of 2005. His latest book, The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom was published by HarperCollins in May 2008. Atlantic will be published by HarperCollins in November 2010. Simon Winchester lives on a small farm in the Berkshires in Massachusetts and in New York City

If you have any questions or would like to purchase a ticket or sponsor the Authors Luncheon, please call (650) 618-3330 or email.