The SPD Bee: April 28, 2014
Crown Point Press, San Francisco
What can we say except THANK YOU!!
SPD's 2014 Spelling Bee went so well it was almost sacrilegious (and geez did that word take down a lot of spellers!). We easily surpassed our fundraising goal, we saw so many good friends again, our first "spoken silent auction" went superbly, and we weathered a fierce dispute over whether there was an "e" in cantaloupe and--more importantly--where exactly in the word that damn "e" was!
Daniel Levin Becker again took the crown as our King Bee with the winning word"idiosyncrasy," a word that runner-up Summer Brenner will most likely never misspell again.
Profound thanks to our silent auction donors, everyone who attended, our staff and volunteers, and to our premier sponsors. Thanks especially to the spellers, who once again suffered gentle humiliation for a great cause, and also especially to the super duo at the mic, Josh Kornbluth our MC and Geoffrey Nunberg our judge.
Because of YOU small press writers everywhere will see their books get out into the world another day. And what are books but collections of words? And what are words but the product and result of...SPELLING!!
Photos by Evan Karp unless otherwise noted.
Kornbluth starts us off...
Our two-time winner, Daniel Levin Becker.
And this year's runner up, Summer Brenner.
The Judge, Mr. Nunberg, ponders diphthongs.
Barbara Jane Reyes, speller.
Logan Kroeber, speller.
Robin Sloan, speller.
Matthew Zapruder, speller.
Ethel Rohan, speller.
Anisse Gross, speller.
Laurie R. King, speller.
Leah Garchik, speller.
Kaya Oakes, speller.
Josh Kornbluth as he anecdotes...
Silent auction, with Wayne Theibaud pieces as backdrop.
(Photo by Andrew Pai)
Volunteer bartenders, braced for the onslaught.
(Photo by Andrew Pai)
Another packed house.
From the back rows.
Furious bidding in an elegant setting.
So many friends...thank you all & endlessly!
FOOD PROVIDED BY:
SILENT AUCTION DONORS (THANK YOU!!):
2014 PREMIER SPONSORS