A Match Made in Book Heaven

“This has got to be the greatest assembly of wit and wisdom in the public library in 125 years,” Russell Goldsmith was saying.

A few feet behind the chairman of City National Bank and event co-sponsor idled authors James Ellroy and Lisa See. The chef, Emeril Lagasse, was at his left elbow. Across the room, Susan Faludi, Whitney Otto and George Plimpton were mingling with the literary hordes.

Those were only a few of the 72 accomplished authors who were dining en masse Sunday at the central library rotunda as part of a two-day event celebrating the L.A. Public Library’s 125th anniversary. Library aficionados Gregory and Veronique Peck hosted the evening.

“It smelled so good when I walked in,” mused author and PenWest head Eric Lax, detecting evidence of antipasto, pizza and brownies. “I figured they must have opened the cookbooks.”

On Monday, the erudite group was to fan out across the city to headline fund-raising dinners in private homes hosted by such social and civic leaders as Mayor Richard Riordan, Hal David and Ginny Mancini. About 900 people paid $300 to $800 for the privilege of joining them, and the hosts and sponsors were thanked with invitations to Sunday’s event.

The dinners were organized by the Council of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles to raise $300,000 for the L.A. Public Library’s virtual-library project. The library is gradually installing technology in its 67 branches to broaden access to the huge store of information downtown.

Of course, libraries and literary lights are a natural match. Joni Smith, library council president, said most celebrities on the group’s wish list signed on. “All authors love the library, so they’ll do things for the library they wouldn’t do for anything else,” said Smith, who co-chaired the event with Nancy Vreeland.

Indeed, the evening seemed like a bestseller list sprung to life with such book-binder biggies as Elmore Leonard, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Cleveland Amory, Gay Talese, Jane Smiley, Stephen Cannell, Mona Simpson and Dominick Dunne.

For some authors, the evening reminded them of old friends, the books that inspired them on their path many years ago.

“So many people here grew up in this library,” said Carolyn See, amid the shelves of the ornate children’s literature room. “Ray Bradbury came here when he was a child. I came here when I was a child. In this room, I read Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ when I was 20.”

Mary Higgins Clark seconded the synergy between authors and libraries. “It’s funny when people say to me, ‘I got your book at the library,’ as if to apologize. That’s crazy, because libraries recommend us and people listen. It’s wonderful PR for a writer.”

Many authors enjoyed a flash of community spirit after laboring solo. Plimpton said a meeting with Leonard particularly delighted him for aesthetic reasons. “He was with an astonishing young woman. My pulse was pounding.”

For late bloomer Frank McCourt, winner of a Pulitzer Prize this year for his memoir, “Angela’s Ashes,” the evening opened onto a brave new world.

“It’s strange being in such company because they’ve all been at this much longer than I have,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like an interloper. They’re all warm, shaking my hand and clapping my back. I like this life after being a teacher all these years and talking about writing. This will suit me fine.”