>> charlie schroeder recounts his six months in historical war reenactment from the civil wars raid to stalingrad in colorado and a manufactured vietcong village in virginia. this is about 50 minutes. >> thank you very much. thank you very much economy and to this bookstore. it is my very favorite bookstore. you can usually find me in the history section camped out there. if you are ever here on the weekends and you see a strange person looking around, it is probably me. because i am completely obsessed with this bookstore and i supported and i love what they do. i had to look up gimlet in the dictionary when i got that review. i thought it was a drink. giblets, or whatever. i think it is sharp. i have a look at the derivation

of that, middle english or something. i don't even know. it was a very nice review. you should tell that to the guy who wrote a blog post about me recently. he called me an idiot. anyway, that's a whole other story. thank you all very much for coming out. this is a pleasure to speak in front of a crowd of readers. and the crowd of vroman's supporters. i'd like to talk about how i got the idea to do this. the real origin of the book was when i was in college. i spent my junior year abroad and i had gotten the acting bug. i really wanted to be the next great actor. i went to london and i completely fell in love with shakespeare. when i came back, i thought, i can do this. i can make a living. i felt more alive when i was speaking his language than when i did anything else in my life.

and i thought what a great way to make a living and to be a shakespearean actor. what i did was auditioned for a local renaissance fair. my home town of lancaster pennsylvania. and i was cast. i was so excited. i got cast as romeo and romeo and juliet. so i went to the renaissance fair. i was all excited. i found out at that moment the romeo and juliet had been shrunk to a truncated version. the greatest hits. so it wasn't quite the national theater, which i had experienced in this year that i had in london. at the renaissance fair, what you do is you inhabit a character and you walk around and talk to people and asked that you are elizabethan. i do know that i was really getting into any of this. but i was. i was always amazed and always intrigued by seeing people show

up to the fair, dressed as elizabethans. there were knights in shining armor, ladies in dresses. i always wondered, why are they doing that? i am getting paid $150 per week to dress up as an elizabethan, and they are doing it voluntarily, and it always shocks me is something very curious. what is it about dressing up as a historical figure, a historical character, that appeals to people. that stayed with me. i always wondered what was the attraction and why are people attracted to a certain moment in time. they weren't dressing up as romans, they were not dressing up as french and indian war reenactors. they were dressing up as elizabethans. what is it about a moment in time that attracts us? why are some people attracted to a moment in time? >> so i think i am one of the few people in the united states who said i grew up in a log cabin. which is true.

it was built in 1740. and i grew up next to amish people. i really do think that i am one of the very few people who can say that. i never really thought anything of it. this is just my normal life. i am growing up in this house crooked floorboards and dead mice underneath them, and it smells thatime and it is full of mildew. the people down the street didn't have any electricity. i didn't think anything of it. i wanted to go to the big city and be an actor. i wanted to see tall buildings and skyscrapers and have an exciting life. so i went to new york, and then i went to los angeles in 2003. one of the things that moving to l.a. from east coast does when you are 30 years old -- is that all of a sudden, you feel very divorced from this east coast, sort of traditional upbringing. that happened to me when i was out here. i was living in a part of the

city that felt very new. it took me back to the 1950s. and i felt very detached. all of a sudden, that thing that i took for granted, growing up in a log cabin, living next to amish people. all of a sudden, i needed that in my life. one day, i was in the shower. i was scrubbing, and my wife burst into the bathroom. and she said, out of nowhere, if you could go back to college right now and major in any subject, what would it be? and i said well, that's a good question. and i burst out history. and as i said, even as i said it, i didn't quite put all the pieces together. i did not quite understand what it was that i felt was missing in my life, but i felt that i needed to learn about the past. that this would somehow make me a better person and a better citizen. not that long afterwards, we

went down to fort macarthur. is on the palos verdes commensal peninsula. they hold what is called a timeout event. a timeline event is where reenactors from all different time. show up. they set up their tents, they show their weapons, they dress up in their uniforms, and they talk about their particular moment in time. my wife and i went with us, and i was just amazed. because i did not know that the reenactment hobby was so broad. i didn't realize that people, you know, dressed up as romans at that time. or that their work helps out there were people dressed up as vikings and all these other different time periods. when i was there, i noticed that there was one particular group that was not there.

when i went home, i started googling, and i was on my bed with my laptop propped up on my knees. and i tag on my laptop, nazi reenactment and i got about three results. and i thought, people do this. they share their hobby with the world. after little bit more searching, i discovered this website. and it is called drive on stalingrad.com. this was a website for an upcoming reenactment. it was a fascinating thing. they had all the rules committee had all these photos come and i could not tell if the photos were real or staged. they were that good. and so i sent them an e-mail. and i said hello, i live in los angeles, can i come play along? and they said sure.

it is called sleepless in stalingrad. it was very sleepless the whole time. now, i don't know if any of you have been to colorado on the plains -- there is nothing there. i saw a tree and a bird. it is very flat. and it is very cool. for anybody who knows anything about stalingrad and the battle, this is one of the most horrific battles of all time. the estimates are somewhere between one and 2 million people that died over seven months. stalin was just going where ever he could at the germans. it was just blood and guts and awful, people were freezing to death, the body parts were freezing to metal. it was just horrible. so these guys had fun weekend. we did a forced march.

at one point, i saw a small roster cut on my right breast pocket. i had never been through basic training. i had never served in our military. at the time it probably weighed 20 pounds more than i did. i was not in shape to do this, and i had no idea what i was getting myself into. so we needed about 6 miles. the plan was that we were going to stop and spend the night in his shuttered, one-room schoolhouse. it was at the top of this high plane. >> the temperature was dropping fast. the night before it had dropped to 20 degrees, and we did not have sleeping bags. because we were going to be authentic. i have not slept. the mixture of being in the presence of 90 snoring and departing man, i did not sleep a wink. and at this point i have not

slept in 36 hours. the sun has set. i am lying in the middle of this one-room schoolhouse. next to a swept up heil of rat droppings. and i miss my wife, i think at this time i decided that i would never complain about another thing as long as i live. i think i have adhered to that. because nothing could be worse than this. what happened is i am lying there. all of a sudden, a rancher comes on. and he has no idea that this is happening on his property. he comes home on a friday night in his truck. he has some questions about the not see -- nazi's in his yard.

i wondered if i was being summoned for guard duty. then some shadowy figure shine a flashlight in my face. let's go, guys, he said. now. what is going on, i asked? there is a guy outside, he claims we have to leave from the schoolhouse and he is mad. a handful of soldiers gathered their belongings, shovels, canteens, rifles, and headed outside into the frigid starlit night. i pickup truck was idling in the road not far from the schoolhouse. the high beams illuminating the stretch from here to eternity. they filled in the supplies. teams from the kitchen wafted into the air in thick plumes. i sifted around for information, but it was hard to gather. apparently the drive on

stalingrad organizers have gotten approval from the local landowner to leave it there, but in all the neighbors knew about it. when an uninformed farmer came home and saw a bunch of nazis, he freaked. now, the event's organizers were trying to calm him down so things would not really get out of hand. i've dumped all my supplies next to it ditch that some guys were filling in and asked him what them what was up. if they had heard any update. that they had not. one of them, a tall guy shrugged his shoulders. this happens with this hobby, he said, tossing another shovel full of dirt into the hole. but his friend, bundled in a headscarf was livi people usually look at us and think, that is cool -- but this guy? he gestured at the pickup. why did he have to ruin everything? overtime from the truth came out about why the rancher was sober. it turns out he didn't have a lease on the schoolhouse, but he was a vietnam vet with three

bullet holes in his chest to prove it, and he did not think that nazi reenactment was cool at all. why don't you educate people about nazi-ism instead, he said from the safety of his truck. the chance that his ammunition was blank in his gun or approximately zero. for all the sophisticated weaponry that everybody brought to this grown-up version of cowboys and indians, this was the first danger that we face all day. at one point, one of the nazis went nose to nose with him and really got up in his grill. that did not help matters. soon, friends of the rancher arrived at a nearby crossroads. with headlights shining in motorcycling, it was a passive aggressive posture that bellow. don't mess with colorado. one fair-haired killer could have been more than 20 muttered,

leave it to some dumb redneck to ruin it for everybody. while the standoff continued, the rumor mill churns. the event was going to be canceled, we would have to move for the night, et etc., etc. it did not take long for the morale to disintegrate. at one point i overheard a group of guys that were bemoaning. too much walking, not enough shooting, one of them said. when i heard one of them under the words motel -- please, take me with you. what's the squadron? in a panic, i blurted out california. it is not a squat man, he sighed. please, i beg you. i can't feel my toes anymore. another hour or two outside and i see the very last german casualty on the eastern front. one of the guys who had quit had

hitched a ride back to the camp. now he was returning in his pickup truck to pick up the rest of the deserters. oh, all right, one of them said. mimi at the crossroads in 15 minutes. >> my cheeks were so cool that i could barely won the words. oh, boy, here come the cops. a guy and hellmuth. the car stopped in front of the schoolhouse grille to grow with the pickup, headlights beaming bright. a gold star was pinned to his chest. ..

the driver of the first vehicle never saw the flailing germans. he just spent all his rounds and tore off into the darkness of the high desert. a crowd of panicked germans ran through the second vehicle waving their arms, whistling and yelling stop, stop. stop firing. cut it out. knock it off. the economy to catch speeding ahead, spending 3-foot flames until finally it ground to a halt when it almost ran over a desperate reactor. the dark sky lit up with flashing blue and red lights. it was the cup. he turned his patrol light on and his eyes were burning out of the said perry him that scared the ship out of me, he said. his hand inside the squad car reaching for her knows what i don't care. the blanks.

once the dust settle and everyone's hard resumed their normal rhythm the cop turned back to the nazi had been talking to. they have emptors in world war one, he asked, reversing the type of gun? the not to let him and then replied, world war two. i didn't stick around long enough to see how things and it. the truck with texas tanks arrived at the designated corner and that track to top 10i braced myself as we sped away. at plate to separate that none of the remaining nazis were issued as in the back. the mood in the truck was grim. the heavy said guy was sitting with his back up against the cab muttered, i was looking for to this for five months. major everything was authentic.

for this. nobody bothered to respond. so, -- [applause] feel free to applaud. [applause] after that i went to florida and i re-enacted the civil war because it was warmer. i wish i had better motivation. actually, i do. i thought maybe this will be a good time. i do plan to read a little bit more, and i know i have limited time. the dark night opens tonight to mine and i you want to get to that. does anybody have any questions now? the book. if so, any of you have read it or about historical re-enactment, just about why i'm crazy. and they have any questions. yes. the front row. what did i learn about myself?

is it on? hands on. >> what did you learn about yourself, charlie? >> okay. that is a great question. i'll say this. one of the things i learned by the end of it is that civic pride, frankly. by doing this i realized a couple of things, that i'm not a soldier and all. and i'm 40 years old. i'm sort of passed that stage, thank goodness. i have been working on this up and recently about war and soldiers and the draft, and it's a little bit more serious in the spoken and recognize that i am not of those things. i would be a terrible -- i would be a liability to troops in battle. seriously. i met a vietnam vet and said, hey, have you changed at all since the war? he said, yeah, i wish we fought with an all volunteer army.

i wish we did have the draft. those guys were useless. he was kind of sank, it was interesting. we always hear about the draft as being something that civilians don't want, but the military doesn't want. this interesting debate that is going on right now. but that that was really interesting he said that. i thought, how i would actually be. i would -- i mean, i hate to say this, but i don't know if i could live, frankly. by being a soldier, i don't think i have the fortitude for it. i also, i will address your other point cannot be answered your question when i read the second, if i can read another part. yes. because what i learned about history is this pride in or live. and that it's so important when you're studying history to care very deeply about the place where you live because we all live here. brought citizens of los angeles.

the more we know about the place will have the more respected, the better care we take of it. so those are some things i learned a lot more, but those are two things that really stood up to me because that was the military and civilian thing. the book is not just about military reenactments. one to carry the to have covered a hobby. i didn't just in bed with people who were battling to get civilian re-enactment is it that it was important to include. i didn't really -- i focused mostly on hobbyists. people who are not getting paid. volunteer. not people who are hired by parks. there's a difference between those people who use the at colonial your mossberg dressed up getting paid to do that. i wanted to focus on the people who were doing it and investing time and energy and money. any other questions? >> what made you think about

making these reenactments into a book? >> as opposed to something else you mean? the movie, a tv show, a script. i have no talent for those things. i find it very hard to collaborate with people which, you know, those are collaborative mediums the idea -- the idea of making a film or a documentary film or television show or doing in that form, whatever, it's so daunting to me this is daunting enough, but it's just me in the paper. to have our crew and an organizational skill the need to pull off is beyond my capability am afraid. and like being an actor, being collaborative, but it was not really the responsibility that the producers and directors and those people brought to it. in terms of a narrative script, i want to do it -- it would have

to be real for me. it has to be a portrait of real people doing it. and so i just felt like the book was the best medium for that. i saw another hand. >> what did you find was the most common motivation for the actual reactors? curiosity at least to start with. what was theirs? why did they do it? >> it's a great question, and our one to answer. the one thing that pretty much everybody said that they all have in common despite their political differences, and there are very right wing and left-wing people doing this. they're people attracted to an engine room and people reenacting the vietnam war, chapter it. they all believe in the second amendment. and that is, you know, that was interesting. i like hearing the arguments on the left and the right.

there were all pretty much believers, whether there were firing a weapon and not from the all pretty much stick by. in terms of motivation, so many different reasons why. heritage. i embedded with a guy named rick fox who was into heavy metal who was the basis of a heavy metal hair band called wasp who dresses up from poland. he's bullish, and this is kind of like the way of honoring poland in it to a positive way. not john polis jokes. these are astounding lifland plainly dressed, really incredible cavalrymen from the senate -- 17th century. other reasons, you know, people getting away from modern life. fascination with the military. different time frames attract different people.

there are vents or reservists were soldiers who have a fascination with rome. it's only the germans, military. other -- you know, certainly. in the civil war, i should say is the most popular. 50,000. it's really hard to estimate these numbers. 50,000 people. certainly people in the south to it for different reasons the people in the north or even out here in the west. so it's a really hard thing to synopsize. shake that town. >> was a particular group more fanatical than the rest? in more kind of committed and intense about during the reenactments. >> basically what you have a historical reenactments, at

least in the united states, you kind of have a couple different ways in which things are re-enacted. there are private events and public events. typically the public event is one that has happened on american soil. those reenactments will actually happen at the bell set themselves. for example, the french and indian war and all for niagara. and the roman re-enactment. room didn't happen here. can it happening now. those foreign, if you can call them that, they have been typically on private property. there is no site told that on. those reenactments tend to be, i found, the more fanatical in that there -- there is no audience. and so you are not just the

participant, but you're also the audience member one. the way in which instruction is very much for you to get an experience of being there, the aryan actress call this a rush. i was there. i really got it with the rock. you know, somebody hit me with their pilon. whenever. it's 1066. but it happened to me mostly in the situations. there were people of their dressed up like us today reminding me of wireless. and really, it doesn't take the lead of a stalking assembly last week about the stanford experiment. they have guards and prisoners. i believe it happened, correct me if i'm wrong, but it happened with the students. intellectual, private, young,

replan kids, privileged kids did to the stanford the. within three days the guards for beating the crap on the prisoners. that would never happen. he put them in that situation and happens. the easier it is to forget. that definitely happened on a number of occasions. i would use the word fanatical. we're going to eat only the food that day. rome, mediterranean to cuisine has not changed. grapes, salami, a little bread, perfect. so much better. somebody had a question every year. >> the easiest aspect and the most difficult aspect of writing

a book which i found nothing easy. nobody teaches you how to write and 87,000 word a 7,005 and 48 were booked. along this thing have ever written was 2,000 words. so it's funny. i think -- i'm hoping it's going to be excerpted in the magazine. been waiting. i get to reread my whole block. you go back and look at it. that needs to get cat. that's terrible. one of the things, a learning process for me. i hate to sound pretentious, but it's like sculpting writing nonfiction. you have a material. then it gets shipped. some others coulter will ship another way. this is my stamp. i found the material and that formed it into this. and so often times one of the hardest thing to do, what do i leave out to read this book a

been 400,000 words. it could have been a remembrance of things past. cabin of. by the way, i rub my thesis. i need to read it. that was really hard. hard to figure out what to keeping and what to keep out. as i was -- i was writing it as i was doing it. so that first experience i didn't have a lot else to compare to. and so as i was learning how would just start cutting stuff from earlier chapters because i was trying to fit that in later. anybody here is a writer or has ever tried to write or is interested in writing, to this day i look at running a vice. find the same place to go every morning in a.m. and right. that's ridiculous. i wrote this book everywhere. public transportation, numerous

hotels in las vegas. tom asked. i would close the blinds and just -- so i find writing to be really, really hard. i hope that if anyone here needs a writer, i hoped that you do, too. it is not. i just find it to be really difficult. when the book came out or ride will be always had to finish a winter and read aloud. that really helped me. any place that still clunky. i just read it out loud because i wanted it to be companionable. any other questions? >> can you call my editor? she asked if i have an audio version. i'm doing this now with c-span.

now. >> coming soon? >> i have some. i hope so. >> it would be interesting for you to read it. >> yes. i think so too. >> at think i would enjoy it in obol for. >> yet. yet. thank you. anybody else agree, raise your hand. yea. the. >> did any of the reenactments have any script that they -- >> that's a great question. >> thank you very much. [applause] no, although i will say this. the room and reenactment i did in this tiny little town in arkansas population 385, these two men built a 26,000 square foot replica on auxiliary with four watchtowers in the moat. there is a cal tech house upon the hill. it's just mind-boggling.

they took a scenario very seriously. so i will say this. there was a dialogue, but there was an outline for what happened . i write about it in the buck. i had no idea what was going on when i was there, not a clue. i had walked into a world. people were speaking half lion and southern accents. the mafia, what are you -- i can't even understand latin in just a standard american. so they had a very clearly defined is scenario, much more so, i think, and some of the other events. this one felt heavily scripted. there were moments when people would come in and like, you know, julius, i have killed the celts. you sort of -- there was one moment actually, very funny moment, where was by a tent and

i was, i don't know, fixing a shoelace or, you know, sandal. i was trying to thomas kent -- send all together. i was by myself in the middle of the ford and there's nobody else around. this guy, this room and came out i have killed the celts in their present you with his clothing. i was like, there's nobody. i'm in year. scripted in some regard, but i don't know if they rehearsed it. they're really taking this -- i'm an actor. i do it for an audience. they become the audience themselves. that was like the -- that was where i kind of put that together that that was the objective to read your the participants in the audience member at the same time.

very bizarre. he read the book and contacted me and benefits but friends. i saw one other hand. >> forgive me if you covered this before we walked in. the opening. can you talk at all about some of the interpersonal politics or the politics between groups because that is something we have talked about fascinates me. >> sure. this is a room and, by the way, and a professor at loyola marymount. a great question. a lot of the group's to have a very differing opinions. this is a hobby. nobody is getting paid. everyone is doing it voluntarily, and they're is a lot of time commitment. you sort of need almost like a theater company. you need a benevolent dictator to say, look, the rollins to

what probably 25 lesions are so in the united states. that is what they're called. their regional. you're part of your local legion. what you have there are people who want to do it for different regions -- reasons. researching things in finding a different things and correcting each other. so there can be this very contentious -- and i was on a few message boards. i would cds, you know, swinging back and forth these, you know, just calling each other out of stuff. i think, you know, in the and it's probably good to have that kind of dialogue. it can probably erode some of the groups, but just because you are into this and he is into this does not mean that you're all going to agree on how it should be interpreted or what the objective of the group is. one of the fascinating things, little sign of. the roman group that i worked with here, they intellectuals, professors, another member is a

rare coin dealer, one of the most renowned in the world. and the self one of the legions, very biblically oriented so depending on what region year and you find that people are attracted to a particular moment time for different reasons. we find out here, i didn't find the religious aspect, but certainly in the south there was that aspect with rome in particular. any other questions combine. >> are any other countries doing this? >> yes. different europe. i would say just sort of the west. it's a western phenomenon. the only evidence that i have found of any eastern country doing reenactments is japan. i am not aware -- typically, you

know, if you were a military power or if you were an imperial power, a global power of one point or another or at least a regional power to award does not have their connotations that it might having countries that have been defeated. so you don't typically find in other countries that half been the victims of war. people with too keen an interest in reliving it as a hobby. but it is definitely a western phenomenon. in england it is quite popular. certainly they have a much steeper history and we have. the civil war, american civil war reenacting is very, very popular in england. at think it's actually the most popular reenactment, believe it and not.

>> the recent war, afghanistan is being re-enacted. >> no, there are people who are collecting because a lot of -- you know, you have reenactments -- reenactments and living history. the ministry is for back of the above it -- like a better phrase, show and tell where people will sort of put out the uniforms and weapons and supplant that and people start to collect. some of the interest is actually in, oh, that was the uniform from 2004. the california has changed and what have you. the most recent that has any real numbers is the amount from and i did reenact that, which was by far the most disturbing reenactment. and did that on private property in the middle of virginia, and that was -- there is some stuff that happened that was quite disturbing. white down 95 yen. sure. of course.

so by the end of the book to answer your question again, one of the things i learned was civic pride. having pride in the place where i live. and along the way a lot of real actors asked me, do you think you will become a real actor? is this something you're going to stick with? and so i didn't really think that it would. i mean, i was fascinated by the hobby and a great time doing it. i didn't really think that i would continue. after a test myself a question. what i do. what would i do? or the choices i would make? in some regards this is my chance to editorialize. i hope this last chapter not only reveals my sense of humor, but also my civic pride. that's a little difficult in los angeles. the history isn't that long. it's not all that a parent. repaved over a lot of the

history here. i decided that i was going to do something. that was to walk between the two los angeles missions dressed as a spanish friar. i wanted to do something that was civilian, something that was ambush history, these guys that i meant to something called ambush history repeat dress up and got in public in the people go, but is that guy doing? then look into a double take and then wonder. you can say to my new. this is what was happening right your 200 years ago. the first order of business was to match my record. spanish friars road at a trail and called it alchemy no royale with the kings highway. i would have loved have fallen in their footsteps, but unfortunately today it is 810-9 and 101 freeway to be seen as a

walking on the 101 would result in certain death at did what any educated man would do, i let math question of my journey. one day i opened my lap top commander of the two addresses and traced the 26-mile path as its exact of west from san gabriel through familiar terrain . the neighborhoods and communities. eyes and then to look closer abilene in troops, residential and commercial districts, freeway overpasses, airports, schools, rex centers, busy sex lined boulevards. as a newly tree-lined street of it affluent suburbs. to my surprise i saw that it even passed within 300 feet of my apartment. for nearly seven years i lived in the middle of history and not knowing. well, as i determined my course i thought of putting all the logistics' with for virtually impossible to replicate in the

21st century. whenever the friars walk between missions out in its native territory soldiers accompanied them and borrows carried all their food and supply. i decided to combine the two companions into a sharp a soldier and to unless france would not mind carrying a backpack full of water, food, and informational fliers that i would pass out along the way. i divided each shift into a 5-mile stretch, roughly one-fifth of the total attorney. my wife volunteered to be the first and when i was excited for her to join me. the first tonight and she had seen me do, and after a year of leaving town time and space i was happy to share some of my experience with her. during those two months are a number of books on the mission but was surprised to find one of my favorite factoids while reading a children's book. apparently at one point blacks had infiltrated the san fernando mission greenery. to get rid of them the fires to fight fires part cats.

when i read it and decided to incorporate the episode. you know, just in case somebody asked me when i was up to. the day after i read this we headed to toys r us more about a small stuffed black-and-white cat. after nailing down the logistics' i started assembling market. for reactors this is the most important step. if you don't look good in authentic cuban was the point. well, hard core reactor would have found a sheep, sheared it, spun the will, and so it. i opted for more efficient approach. i ordered my brown habit from an online customer store, vowed to have a good time in this. even the most temperate sold could achieve a look of spiritual perfection. it came with a rope belt and oversized pilaf. but i figure, if i was going to cut corners on the garbage that had to go hardcore and here.

i decided to a shaded into a fire check. all i can say is that a satellite again at the at the time. the night before the war, "friday i went back to the salon the price had risen from $7 to eight. loretta no longer worked there. to get my hair dresser of visual idea of what i wanted i printed out a few pages of hair cuts from the internet. after waiting nervously for five minutes of was approached by woman would show a link auburn hair. are you ready? and it set up an attorney i. yes. are you. i handed her the images to my surprise she did not flinch. she studied them closely. in i am walking between the

missions i said nervously. she didn't respond. she continued to consider the strange hair. you see, i don't really want to do this. i'm writing a book and it's going to be a last chapter and what's funny is i like my hair far too much to shake off. she looked toward me and kept her head down. she studied my head like a great painter licking a black canvas. finally she spoke, whispered really. is okay. they used to work in salon in hollywood. middle -- many people must ensure. but when done you must wear a hat. [laughter] i'm pulling out my back pocket. already thought of that. it's hard to believe, but the medieval practice was only abolished in 1973. shaving one scalp until only a fringe of hair remained was meant to resemble the crown of

thorns and jesus said and designated that amount had been received and to the clerical order. it wasn't as so many people semis, and a message be hideous paul spot. my hair cut to an hour. by that time she finished a look across between st. francis and jim carey. plumb some brown hair slicked down the front of my cape and a cool breeze chilled my hair. after some time i summoned up enough courage to live in the mayor. wow. eleven years of puppy should i'm sure none of these treasures ever asked her to fashion this. this but this being a first effort in was flawless. she was my st. paul mitchell. i handed him the mayor and she looked at me very sincerely and

said in be, now with gun he'd tr at. ag slipped outside into the darkened alley way. i reach our door. i slid the key instantly. once inside a reached -- with the baseball cap on and snapped with the bath from behalf with-spotted me. let's see. just a minute. apparently took off my clothes. a naked. were married she said. no, no. scene now let's go. oh, no. i could have closed the door, but i figured she needed to see me so she could start acclimating. add just need to tidy up my temples i said.

there are a bit stubbly. oh, -- zero of sterling. no, no. it's okay. but throwback. no. the only time i've seen it like this was the time the market all to a one day our cats would die. i'm just saying it is inevitable . an unstoppable shower of tears, and nothing as it could stop them. now it was happening again. i feel cold, she said. and shivering. i feel like i'm standing on the edge of a cliff. hey. it will only be for a day. by the time i uttered those words she bolted from the bathroom. a couple of months earlier she approved my walk. she had known for a while i was going to get my hair cut. i couldn't understand why she was so upset.

i turned around to resume shaving, bueno to the mayor added not recognize the person staring back to me. he listened -- shaving cream all-around his years. as a division down my face, and said he. that guy in the near, that can deploy a crazy person. i flashed back to the time, to be a re-enacted the first thing you have to do is admit yourself to your look crazy. and officials he arrived. thank you very much. >> for more information visit the authors website.

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>> chief executive. hold on. always difficult to tame a crowd of publishers. it's my great pleasure to welcome you to the 175th year's celebration for the wonderful little, brown & co.ppp . to celebrate 175 years of great authors, great books, and great publishing is really absolutely something special. i hope you all are enjoying the party so far. it is great that this evening we

are having the room not only our wonderful authors, but we are joined by our bookselling partners, literary agents, media, publicists who helped spread the great word in books. and importantly, we also have in the room many, many of my esteemed colleagues from little, brown both past and present. it's fabulous that you're all here. there a fantastic team of committed, creative people. what links us all, our absolute joy of how really important the storytelling and great riding. and i think little, brown absolutely exemplifies the very top of publishing and this led by the comestible michael peach.

[applause] who will now continue. >> hello. >> hello. >> am so happy. to booksellers started to the kid more books than they could sell themselves. two centuries later still making books. it is wonderful. we all did it together. publishers, writers, literary agents, booksellers, producers, bloggers, librarians, all working toward putting things that a writer has made into the hands of a reader that might be changed by it.

a succession of gentleman and families, employees, and is now on by her son, the second-largest book publishing enterprise in the world. even older than ours. under all these republicans have in essence interested by those writers bring in books and the world. the simple face of all of us because the books, made it past the civil war. many of them are here tonight. [applause] [inaudible]

was stories have been told with these writings. [laughter] people who have been essential to today's little, brown forward to this very happy moment. [inaudible]

modern publishing for. their readers of oil worldwide publishing enterprise. becomes more international. [applause] who want to thank my friends and colleagues reading the books and talking about the books, manufacturing the books, packing the books, storing the books. it feels like a dance. [laughter]

elegant, and youthful. but will now place the two issues. thank you. [applause] [background noises] [inaudible conversations] ♪ ♪