The next day I felt like I had a genius hangover. You see, normally I go to sleep around the same time as most two-year olds, but the night before there was a great reason to stay up late.
On September 23, four of us from Vault Communications had packed up the boss’ SUV and headed to Hartford, CT for the event of my English major dreams-- eleven of the nation’s most important authors had signed on for a benefit event where they would read Twain works, sign donated books and hopefully, inspire a few writers—of big, big checks for the struggling Mark Twain House and Museum.
Hey, look who we saw on our way up! Our client, Airgas.
For the past month or so, a little team of us at Vault (I’ve watched Almost Famous again recently, so dare I call us the “Bookends?”) had been pitching our hearts out for the house where Huck, Tom, Jim and dozens of the most beloved characters in American literature were born. The Mark Twain House & Museum, where Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) wrote Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, had fallen upon critical financial difficulties, causing the management to announce the potential closure.
The Mark Twain House and Museum
After reading about its fundraising issues, Jon Clinch, author of the critically-acclaimed novel Finn, a “prequel” to Twain’s most famous work, set in motion an effort to save this important marker in Twain’s literary journey. He emailed a few author friends. Then they emailed some more friends. The hefty list of novelists included: Tasha Alexander, Elizabeth: The Golden Age; Philip Beard, Dear Zoe; Jon Clinch, Finn; David Gates of Newsweek and author of Jernigan; Robert Hicks, The Widow of the South; Phillip Lopate, Against Joie De Vivre; Amy MacKinnon, Tethered; Stewart O’Nan, Last Night at the Lobster; Tom Perrotta, Little Children; Kristy Kiernan, Catching Genius; and Arthur Phillips, Prague.
Eleven great novelists gathered to read Twain works and provide a little inspiration.
So, why was Vault there?
Did I mention that Jon Clinch was a former Philadelphia ad executive?
Maribeth Roman Schmidt, Vault president, had once shared a small office with a brilliant copywriter and aspiring author, Jon Clinch. Through another friend, they reconnected after a few years and he explained the pet project he had organized to take place in a little over a month.
With four weeks until the event, the Vault team (frustrated novelists all) immediately signed on pro-bono. The results were placements in publications across the country including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Boston Globe and Hartford Courant. In addition, there were more than 60 television and radio hits during the month preceding and the days after the event. Online hits included Media Bistro, luxury blog Luxist, media websites and dozens of personal blogs.
CBS Sunday Morning (one of my very favorite shows, I was on fan overload!) came in from New York to interview the authors and tape footage on the night of the event. The segment aired just yesterday. The National Public Radio program, "The Story with Dick Gordon," heard on over 80 public radio stations across the country including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami, also taped a segment that aired today.
A happy group after a truly magical night.
Unabashedly, I was a total fan that night and had all the authors sign some books. In his inscription, Tom Perrotta said “its good to go to sleep early.” Normally that’s true, but sometimes its waaaay better when you stay up late!