LITERATURE + LECTURES

Five acclaimed authors, Tyler Forence, Carl Hiaasen, Jake Silverstein, Marlo Thomas and Isabel Wilkerson will headline the Thirty-First Annual Houston Chronicle Book & Author Dinner. The event, which benefits the literacy programs of the Houston Chronicle’s Readers are Leaders Foundation, will be held on Sunday, November 14, at the Hilton Americas - Houston.

The benefit will begin at 5 p.m. with a VIP reception preceding book sales and an autographing reception with the featured authors. Dinner will follow, with the program commencing after the meal and the authors speaking about their latest works, while sharing personal insights into the creative writing process.

About the Featured Speakers:

Tyler Florence has been sharing his culinary vision with the world for 15 years. A graduate of Johnson & Wales University, chef Florence honed his craft by working with some of the best chefs in New York. The Food Network made him a familiar face; he has starred in and hosted a handful of different programs. In July 2008, Florence opened his first kitchen retail shop and published two cookbooks. In 2009, Florence launched a line of steel-clad cookware. This year, he got his own iPhone app. His new book, Tyler Florence Family Meal: Bringing People Together Never Tasted Better, will be released in October.

Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his incredibly tolerant family and numerous personal demons. He became a reporter at The Miami Herald at age 23 and still writes a column for that very newspaper. In the 1980s, Hiaasen started writing novels. His young adult book, Hoot, won a Newbery Award and remained on the New York Times best-seller list for two years. His novel Strip Tease became a major motion picture in 1996 starring Demi Moore. Hiaasen’s new book, Star Island, tells the story of an “undercover stunt double” for a troubled young pop star.

Jake Silverstein received a B.A. in English from Wesleyan University, an M.A. in English from Hollins University in Virginia, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin. He was a reporter in Marfa from 1999 to 2000 and a 2002 Fulbright Scholar in Zacatecas, Mexico. Silverstein went to work for Texas Monthly magazine in 2006 as a Senior Editor; in 2008 he was named Editor. Silverstein's first book, Nothing Happened and Then It Did: A Chronicle in Fact and Fiction, was published earlier this year.

Marlo Thomas arrived on American television screens as "That Girl" in 1966. As she pursued stage and film roles in the 1970s and '80s, she also starred in and produced two children’s specials, "Free to Be … You & Me" and "Free to Be … a Family," both of which won Emmys. Thomas has remained active in theater and television; in the 1990s, she played Jennifer Aniston's mother on "Friends." Long married to former talk show host Phil Donahue, Thomas is also the national outreach director for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, founded by her late father, entertainer Danny Thomas. Her memoir, Growing up Laughing, will be released in the fall.

Isabel Wilkerson won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her work as Chicago Bureau Chief of The New York Times in 1994, making her the first black woman in American journalism to win the award. The Warmth of Other Suns, her first book, addresses the decades-long migration of African-Americans from the South to the North and the West, from World War I through the 1970s. To tell the story, Wilkerson traces the paths of three individuals and their families.

Chronicle Publisher and President Jack Sweeney will chair the event, which is being underwritten by the Houston Chronicle. Sponsors of this year’s event include Continental Airlines and The Hilton Americas-Houston. Houston area bookstores Brazos Bookstore, Murder by the Book and Blue Willow Bookshop will provide the evening's book sales.

Tickets for the Thirty-First Annual Houston Chronicle Book & Author Dinner are on sale now through the Houston Chronicle’s Readers are Leaders Foundation. Table sponsorships run $3,000 and $10,000 and individual tickets can be purchased for $99 and $300. For additional information or to purchase tickets, contact the Readers Are Leaders Foundation at 713-362-7904 or email readersareleadersfoundation@chron.com.

The event raises money for the Houston Chronicle's Readers are Leaders Foundation, which promotes the reading of newspapers in schools as a tool for improving academic skills.

The Houston Chronicle, the largest newspaper in Texas and the nation’s seventh-largest newspaper, has evolved into a multimedia company publishing online and commercial print products, in English and Spanish, reaching specific audiences with unique delivery programs. In addition to the Houston Chronicle’s 1.2 million daily readers and 1.7 million readers on Sunday, Chron.com, the Chronicle’s online site, averages nearly 70 million page views and 8 million unique visitors each month. The Houston Chronicle is owned by the Hearst Corporation.