California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, applauds author Alice Walker after inducting her into the California Hall of Fame in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2006. The hall honors achievements in the arts, politics, science, entertainment and sports.
American Gets British Honor
In this image released by the British government, author Bill Bryson, right, whose wry travel writing includes an affectionate look at Britain, receives an honorary Order of the British Empire, or OBE, from Britain's Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell in London on Dec. 13, 2006. Bryson's award is honorary because he is not a British citizen.
Wild For Waterfowl
Bill Stout is shown in an undated photo. Stout is a Saginaw Bay, Mich., waterfowl hunter and a decoy collector, although regretfully he's never had time to make one. But the 75-year-old Ford Motor Co. retiree has found time to carve his own niche -- he's written the book on Saginaw Bay waterfowl hunting and some of its most interesting decoy makers.
Promotions In Tandem
Michael Blake, left, author of "Dances with Wolves," and Robert Wayne sign copies of their latest books at the public library in Sierra Vista, Ariz., on Dec. 10, 2006. Wayne describes his fiction book, "Partners," as a contemporary Western. Blake is promoting his nonfiction "Indian Yell," which depicts European settlers as selfish destroyers of a utopian Native American way of life.
Trillin Tribute
Author Calvin Trillin stands in his Greenwich Village townhouse in New York on Dec. 11, 2006. Trillin remembers his late wife, Alice, in the new book "About Alice."
David's Delighted
President Bush, right, bestows the Presidential Medal of Freedom to historian David McCullough during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Dec. 15, 2006.
Signs Of The Times
Donald Seitz is shown in his Nashville, Tenn., home with his self-published book of photos titled "The Great American Book of Church Signs" on Dec. 7, 2006. After being inspired by a saying on a church sign on his way home from work one day, Seitz spent three years driving 20,000 miles across 40 states to photograph church signs.
Poetry In Alaska
Poet Hannah Twitchell signs a copy of her chapbook during a holiday bazaar at the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak, Alaska, on Dec. 2, 2006. Twitchell began to write poetry in 1971 about her feelings a few months after her daughter, Christine, was born.
Hnida Tells Her Story
Katie Hnida, who made football history at the University of Colorado when she became the first woman to play in a Division I football game, has written a book, "Still Kicking." The book, published Nov. 21, 2006, details her accounts of abuse and sexual assault while at Colorado.
Lauder's Taste
Evelyn H. Lauder, senior corporate vice president of Estee Lauder, makes an appearance at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City to promote her new book, "In Great Taste," on Dec. 14, 2006.
Cahill And Middle Ages
Historian and author Thomas Cahill poses in his Upper West Side apartment Sept. 29, 2006, in New York City. His latest book is "Mysteries of the Middle Ages."
Passing Of A Scribe
Author Wilma Dykeman, 79, is shown at her home in Asheville, N.C., in this file photo from May 28, 1999. Dykeman, who chronicled the people of Appalachia and the land that shaped them in 18 novels and nonfiction books, died Dec. 22, 2006, at the age of 86.
Prison Expos
Abdullah Dost, son of Afghan writer Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost, shows his father's book, titled "The Broken Shackles of Guantanamo," about his experience in Guantanamo Bay prison, Dec. 27, 2006, in Peshawar, Pakistan. Now, Dost has lost his liberty again, this time believed jailed by the Pakistani intelligence service for the book's fierce criticism of the agency's role in the U.S.-led war on terrorist groups.
He Did The Math
Charles Platkin talks about his new book, which lists 7,500 popular foods and how much exercise it will take to burn off the calories, in Miami on Dec. 15, 2006. Platkin, a Miami-based public health advocate, spent nearly a year compiling the list, which includes fast-food dishes, popular restaurant menu fare and most grocery items.
Documenting Laura's Pa
Professor of musicology Dale Cockrell poses at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 19, 2006. The way Laura Ingalls Wilder used music to help weave her stories of life on the American frontier struck a chord with Cockrell. Now he has his own record label, Pa's Fiddle Recordings, and is in the midst of recording a 10-CD set that brings to life all 126 songs mentioned in Wilder's books.
George Likes Grisham
Author John Grisham signs copies of his new book "The Innocent Man" at Doubleday offices in New York on Oct. 10, 2006. George Clooney will produce a movie based on Grisham's book, Clooney's publicist said Dec. 7, 2006.
Children's Friend
Jack Prelutsky, the nation's first children's poet laureate, poses with one of his books in a children's bookstore in Seattle on Nov. 20, 2006.
A Nobel Tradition
Nobel Literature laureate Orhan Pamuk of Turkey signs one of his books Dec. 12, 2006, as he makes the traditional literature laureate visit to the library of the Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby in Sweden, where the population is multicultural.
Anniversary Publication
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., appears at a book signing in New York to promote the 10th anniversary re-release of her book, "It Takes a Village," Dec. 18, 2006.
Gone Too Soon
Richard Carlson is seen Oct. 25, 2006, in Walnut Creek, Calif. Carlson, author of the best-selling "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff," died Dec. 13, 2006, at age 45. Carlson died after falling ill while on his way to New York as part of a tour to promote his new book, "Don't Get Scrooged," said Julie Mitchell, spokeswoman for HarperSanFrancisco, Carlson's publisher.