Carmel Magazine

042-66 Shortcuts_SU05 Carmel Magazine 7/26/13 7:25 PM Page 4 SHORTCUTS EVENTS Photo: Kelli Uldall Annual Festival Brings Big-Name Speakers to Pebble Beach Edward Di Yanni, CFO of Stevenson School, stands with Authors & Ideas Festival co-founders Jim and Cynthia McGillen and Stevenson School President Joe Wandke. This year, the student program of the festival moves to Santa Catalina and Stevenson schools. he Authors & Ideas Festival is very excited to be moving to Pebble T Beach on the beautiful campus of Stevenson School. Joe Wandke, Stevenson's President said "it's a win-win for RLS and the Festival". The 2,800 students program is moving to the historic Santa Catalina School and Stevenson School; the Festival will continue to provide scholarships to 300 teachers at the Festival. During a recent Authors & Ideas Festival (formerly Carmel Authors & Ideas Festival), Dr. Ramon Resa shared stories from his personal memoir with Festival. The line-up for the seventh annual event, taking place this Sept. 27-29, includes New York Times columnist David Brooks, MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, several former U.S. ambassadors and others. Throughout the three-day gathering, speakers will give presentations, participate in book signings and engage in conversations with audience members during informal small-group sessions. Tickets for the festival traditionally sell out, but McGillen makes student a student audience.The author, who started working in central California cot- access a priority. More than 300 area teachers and 2,500 Monterey to study hard and dream big, he went on to college and eventually opened enjoying exclusive opportunities to interact with presenters. The festival ton fields at age 3, grew up in a family of 15. After a teacher encouraged him a private medical practice in the farm region where he was raised. Following the presentation, festival co-founder Jim McGillen stood out- side the Sunset Center and watched students exit the building. Several stopped and hugged Dr. Resa as they filed by. "That was spectacular. Just watching something like that made it worth- while," says McGillen, who launched the event in 2007 with his wife, Cynthia. Since then, prominent personalities ranging from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to columnist Dave Barry to Pulitzer Prize Winning NY Times columnist Tom Friedman have headlined the Authors & Ideas 48 C ARMEL MAGAZINE•SUMMER/FALL 2013 County students will attend Thursday and Friday sessions at no cost, also sends speakers into local schools throughout the year. McGillen considers hundreds of potential presenters as he crafts each year's program, aiming for variety and enthusiasm. "There is absolutely no theme. The only criteria is that we have to have 32 spectacular speakers," he says. Tickets for the 2013 Authors & Ideas Festival cost $550, which includes entrance to all three days of presentations and small-group sessions. For information and tickets, visit www.carmelauthors.com. —Renee Brincks

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