August 19, 2008
William Minor

Author, musician, artist, mentor, fantastic guest! Bill Minor provided a delightful mix of talent, experience, insight and humor at our August meeting. Playing to a packed house, Bill shared much of what has made him the man he is today. Early on, Bill counted himself among those who believed that if you tried to do too many things, you more than likely didn't excel at any. The problem for Bill was he had driving passions in so many directions. Which to choose? Unable to decide, he followed each and found to his surprise that the overlaps between his art, writing, and music began to grow. The epiphany came when he began writing about jazz. Visit Bill's Web site, link below, to read more about what a happy marriage these two passions created.

Bill's talents don't end with the creative. He is a contracts advisor for the National Writers Union and in that capacity has helped legions of budding and seasoned authors successfully navigate the treacherous landscape of publisher and agent negotiations. The arts community on the Central Coast owes much to Bill Minor, and so do the members and guests of Central Coast Writers branch. Thank you, Bill, for sprinkling inspiration and good spirits at our August meeting.   

	The large ballroom at Casa Munras was filled nearly to capacity, a tribute to Bill and his connection to writers and artists across the board. Thanks again to the hotel management and staff for helping make the evening a success.
Program Chair, Ixchel Leigh, joined the other activity chairs in outlining the pressing need for volunteers to help carry the load. If you'd like to help your branch continue to succeed, please get in touch. Go to any "contact us" links at this site.

More about Bill:

Bill Minor was originally trained as a visual artist at Pratt Institute and U.C. Berkeley, and published his first book of poems and prints in 1974.

His most recent book, Some Grand Dust (Chatoyant Press, 2002), was a finalist for the Benjamin Franklin Award. He has published three nonfiction books on music: Unzipped Souls: A Jazz Journey Through the Soviet Union (Temple University Press, 1995) and Monterey Jazz Festival: Forty Legendary Years (Angel City Press, 1997). (Bill wrote the script for the Warner Brothers film documentary of the same name),  and Jazz Journeys to Japan: The Heart Within (University of Michigan Press, 2004).

Bill has recently published a novel: Trek: Lips, Sunny, Pecker and Me (Park Place Publications), and is at work on The Inherited Heart: An American Memoir. A professional musician since the age of sixteen, he set poems from his book For Women Missing or Dead to music and released a CD, Bill Minor & Friends, on which he plays piano, guitar, and sings. Another Spoken Word CD, Mortality Suite, will be released soon. His website is: www.bminor.org.