Celebrities Kim Wayans and Louis Gossett, Jr., will lend their star power to the 4th Annual Leimert Park Village Book Fair on June 26.
Wayans, who is the 2010 Ambassador of the book fair, will debut her latest tome, "Digging Up Trouble," which features the fictional character Amy Hodgepodge. "Digging" is the latest in a series that features Hodgepodge as a multiracial youngster working on making a transition from home schooling to life in the public school system.
The first two books, "All Mixed Up!" and "Happy Birthday to Me," hit bookshelves in June 2008.
Academy Award and Emmy winner Gossett has written a surprisingly revealing work called "An Actor and a Gentleman," a twist on "An Officer and a Gentleman," the movie for which he received an Oscar.
Wayans and Gossett headline a schedule that's expected to include more than 150 authors and artists, including novelist Eric Jerome Dickey, advertising guru Tom Burrell, FUBU CEO Daymond John, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Douglas A. Blackmon, and novelist Ishmael Reed. Ruth Forman and Taalam Acey are expected to perform poetry slam.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature many activities for children, including book giveaways and face painting.
"I am very excited and honored to be this year's ambassador," Wayans said of her role at the book fair in Leimert Park, a largely middle-class African-American district in South Los Angeles. "I want to encourage people to come to the event. I'm an advocate for children's literacy. I want to encourage the African American community to partake in this and understand the value and the importance."
Wayans said she created Amy Hodgepodge for a personal reason.
"Amy was inspired by my nieces and nephew," she said. "Many are mixed-race children, which seems to be more and more the case these days. The kids are a little bit of this that and a little bit of the other. I wanted them to have images of themselves. I wanted them to open a book and see kids who look like them."
A standup comedian and producer who has appeared in films and sitcoms, including "In Living Color," which brought notoriety for her characters, including Benita "I Ain't One to Gossip" Butrell, Wayans said she has had a love for books ever since childhood.
"My thirst for reading is a result of my mom, who had a voracious appetite for reading," Wayans said. "She made sure her children were literate. She read to us all the time. She instilled in all of us a love for reading. Sometimes she'd just get us together and act out the characters. She was a ham.
"I spent so much time in the library just dreaming and getting lost in books. Reading stimulated my curiosity about life."
While Wayan's book tome is relative fun fare, Gossett's work is introspective. The book recalls his more than 50 years in the entertainment industry, and he opens up his life — warts and all.
"I wrote this book because I was full of thoughts and things in my life I needed to share," said Gossett, who has conquered kidney and prostate cancer. "I needed to empty out my mind for new thoughts and new actions."
Gossett said he initially thought it was the end when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer about eight years ago.
"I thought it was a death sentence," he said. "But I had to quickly get over that depression. I had to regroup. I did research. I did a lot of praying. I needed to get answers — and I did. I'm still here."
Gossett, whose credits also include stage, television and various motion pictures, talks openly about his inability to get work in the industry, failed relationships, and his drug and alcohol use.
"It was a painful chapter in my life, but writing about it and being open about it is quite cathartic," said Gossett, who recently appeared in Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married Too."
It's all out there now," Gossett said. "I have nothing to hide. There is nothing anyone could write about me that I haven't written about myself."
While the book does contain some painful memories, Gossett is quick to point out that its actually a triumphant story.
"Mine is a success story," said the star, who has started a foundation called Eracism with a mandate to help children understand their history, worth and ability to succeed.
"I've survived racism and I've survived cancer," he said. "I've learned from my mistakes. I understand who is in charge. God is in charge. At one point I had forgotten that."
More than 5,000 attendees are expected to converge on the fair, which will also include live entertainment, book signings, panel discussions and more.
The fair takes place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the Vision Theatre back lot at 43rd Street and Degnan Boulevard.
For more information, visit www.leimertparkbookfair.com, or call (323) 730-0628.
Darlene Donloe is a writer for the L.A. Watts Times.
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