AUTHORS | Bookandauthordinner

Robin Reed Anchor WDBJ7

Robin Reed

Emcee

Robin has been with WDBJ7 since March of 1982.

Robin Reed’s path to television began with a passion for baseball but a major league career was not to be. TV sports reporting was the logical extension but when the opportunity to present weather in Roanoke came along, Robin knew he had found a new hometown.

Robin has served as an instructor at Virginia Western Community College and for the last 7 years has taught meteorology and communication courses at Virginia Tech. He has become one of the most sought-after speakers in our area.

In February of 2017, Robin was asked to take over the 6 P.M. anchor chair for the departing Chris Hurst. Viewers appreciate having a familiar face presenting the news and Robin is enjoying the new challenge.

Martin clark

Retired Judge, Author

Entertainment Weekly called Martin Clark “hands down, our finest legal-thriller writer.” The New York Times stated that he is “the thinking man’s John Grisham.” The Winston-Salem Journal declared that he has set “the new standard by which other works of legal fiction should be judged,” and David Baldacci praised him as “a truly original writer.” Currently a sitting circuit court judge in Patrick County, Virginia, Martin is a cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Davidson College and attended law school at the University of Virginia. When he was appointed to the bench in 1992 at age thirty-two, he became one of the youngest judges in the history of the commonwealth. His novels have appeared on several bestseller lists, and The Jezebel Remedy reached number one on multiple Amazon charts. Additionally, his novels have been chosen as a New York Times Notable Book, a Washington Post Book World Best Book of the Year, a Bookmarks Magazine Best Book of the Year, a Boston Globe Best Book of the Year, a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, a finalist for the Stephen Crane First Fiction Award, and the winner of the Library of Virginia’s People’s Choice Award in 2009 and 2016. He received the Patrick County Outstanding Community Service Award in 2016 and the Virginia State Bar’s Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award in 2018. Martin’s wife, Deana, is a photographer, and they live on a farm with dogs, cats, chickens, guinea fowl and three donkeys.

thomas p.

kapsidelis

Author, Journalist

Thomas P. Kapsidelis is a freelance journalist who worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch for twenty-eight years. He supervised the newspaper’s coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings as the on-site editor in Blacksburg on April 16, 2007. In 2016, he was selected as a one-year residential fellow at Virginia Humanities to complete work on After Virginia Tech. In 2020, he was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. Before joining The Times-Dispatch, he worked as an editor and writer for United Press International and The State of Columbia, South Carolina. Kapsidelis is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the master of fine arts creative nonfiction program at Goucher College. He lives in Richmond.

Samuel shem

Author

Samuel Shem (aka Stephen Bergman) is the author of several books of fiction including the bestseller The House of God. When “The House of God” was published, it gained much critical acclaim for its satire and humor. The novel made The 10 Best Satires of All Time List at Publishers Weekly and Lance called it one of the two most important medical novels of the century. Newsweek listed it in 1999 as “the novel to read about becoming a doctor.” Shem is a doctor, novelist, playwright, and activist. A Rhodes Scholar, he was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School for three decades and founded the Bill W. and Dr. Bob Project in the Division on Addictions at Harvard Medical School. As “Dr. Stephen Bergman”, he has given the commencement address at over 60 colleges and universities, has spoken around the world on “How to Stay Human in Medicine,” and has published a noted essay, “Fiction as Resistance” (Annals of Internal Medicine 2002). He divides his time between Boston, MA and Tierra Tranquila, Costa Rica.

Adriana trigiani

Author

Adriana Trigiani is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen books in fiction and nonfiction, which have been published in thirty-eight languages around the world. She is an award-winning playwright, television writer and producer, and filmmaker. She wrote and directed the film version of her debut novel Big Stone Gap, which was shot entirely on location in her Virginia hometown. Her screen adaptation of Very Valentine debuted on Lifetime television in June 2019. Adriana directed the feature film Then Came You, starring Craig Ferguson and Kathie Lee Gifford, filmed on location in Scotland, which will be released October 2, 2020. Adriana is the cofounder of the Origin Project, an in-school writing program that serves more than 1,500 students in Appalachia. Adriana is at work on her next novel for Dutton at Penguin Random House for release in 2021, and a children's picture book for Viking at Penguin Random House for release in 2021. Adriana hosts a weekly Facebook Live show every Tuesday evening at 6 PM EST featuring guest authors, giveaways and more. Join her on Facebook and Instagram @AdrianaTrigiani. Adriana lives in Greenwich Village with her family.