Talking about the Camino

Hanging Out with a Fellow Author!

On Wednesday, November 4th, 2020, I was the featured speaker for a “Meet the Author” event organized by Rice University’s Friends of Fondren Library group. This event had originally been scheduled for last April, but had to be cancelled due to COVID-19. I was thrilled when the Friends group suggested rescheduling the talk in November as a Zoom meeting. I decided not to make the talk solely about my book, since attendees might not know anything about the Camino. I structured the talk into three parts: the Camino and its history, my 2016 Camino pilgrimage, and my book about that pilgrimage. I had about 130 slides to show the audience, with the slides supporting all three sections of the talk. I didn’t know what to expect, and feared a tiny turnout. Instead, more than 200 folks signed up for the event, and 150 actually tuned in to listen. There were more questions than I could answer during the allotted time, and those questions have given me ideas about how to expand my talk even more, focusing on areas I didn’t address on Wednesday night. I’ll probably have to develop a second version of this talk, covering other aspects. The feedback has all been positive, giving me a Camino boost when so much in the world seems gloomy. Eventually I will be able to post a video of this Zoom event.