LITERATURE + LECTURES

Blue Willow Bookshop presents a book signing and discussion with John Grogan.

John Grogan, author of Marley and Me, will be in town to discuss and sign Marley and the Kittens, his new picture book based on his dog Marley. When a pair of adorable kittens joins the family, Marley is so excited to have two new friends to play with that he follows the felines everywhere. But Marley is no graceful kitten, so you can imagine what happens!

When a pair of adorable kittens joins the family, Marley is so excited to have two new friends to play with that he follows the felines everywhere. But Marley is no graceful kitten. By imitating their gentle behavior, he unintentionally makes a mess all over the house and gets into big trouble for it. What did I do this time? he wonders. Marley is afraid he may have lost his number-one status in the household . . . until an unlikely pair reminds him and his family that no one's purrrrr-fect!

In a story that hilariously reveals the differences between cats and dogs, everyone's favorite misbehaving pup learns from some new friends just how special he really is.

John Grogan is an American journalist and non-fiction writer. His memoir Marley & Me (2005) was a best-selling book about his family's dog Marley. He had been a reporter, bureau chief, and columnist for newspapers in Michigan and Florida before becoming the editor in chief of Rodale's Organic Gardening magazine. He was a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Inquirer published a volume of his best articles in 2007 called, Bad Dogs Have More Fun. His next memoir, The Longest Trip Home, was released on October 21, 2008.

Grogan's memoir Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog has attracted many readers. The book, published in 2005, hit the USA Today and the NY Times bestseller lists. Marley & Me was a story about a family in the making and the destructive, yet pure-hearted, larger-than-life animal who helped shape it. The story details on Marley and John and Jenny's intrepid journey into parenthood.

Marley & Me has been adapted into a film that was released December 25, 2008 starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. Grogan is a graduate of Central Michigan University's Department of Journalism and wrote for the school newspaper, CM-Life. Grogan's dog Marley appeared in the movie The Last Home Run. He was on film for less than 2 minutes when a van pulls up to a curb and a girl steps out followed by a boy with Marley.

Grogan was born in a Catholic home in the Motor City, Detroit, Michigan, on March 20, 1957. He was the youngest of four, his siblings being Marijo, Michael, and Timmy. His father was an engineer for General Motors, while his mother was a housewife. He lives with his wife, Jenny, and their three children, Patrick, Conor, and Colleen in rural eastern Pennsylvania. He met his wife, Jenny, while working as a police reporter for the small Herald-Palladium in the Michigan harbor town of St. Joseph.

We will begin handing out line numbers at 4:00 on the day of the event.

Photo of John Grogan (below)  by Adam Nadel.