Who's in your Rolodex?

Linda Sappenfield — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:47:00 GMT

My listening-while-driving highlight this morning was an NPR story about EMILY’s list. Now a mighty political action committee celebrating 25 years of success, it arose from commonplace record-keeping. It seems that a group of women assembled to share the contents of their Rolodexes.

That little rally called to mind another effective networker. I don’t know whether Frank Campbell, public relations manager for Barnes & Noble Round Rock, stuck with Rolodex or has gone digital, but his list of contacts is enviable. Host of the Round Rock New Neighbors monthly book discussion, he regularly produces noted authors as guest speakers-- Amanda Eyre Ward (Sleep Toward Heaven, Love Stories in This Town) and Mike Cox (Texas Disasters), for example.

For the May 17 meeting (a Monday, 1:00 P.M. at the La Frontera B&N), Frank arranged an appearance by author and counterterrororism expert Fred Burton. Round Rock Public Library is co-sponsoring the event; the public is invited. Oh, and prior attendance at RRNN is optional.

Discussion will focus on Burton’s memoir: Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent. I’ll be out of town that day, and, if Frank’s notes are any indication, will consequently miss some eye-opening comments and Q&A’s of this nature:

· Exactly what a counterterrorism expert is and what he has accomplished

· How specific master terrorists have been tracked and captured

· Burton’s experiences at Stratfor, which Barron’s dubbed “the shadow CIA”

· Unseen threats in the post 9/11 world

Sadly, I’ll have to get my insider spycraft revelations second-hand, but the good news for someone else is an available chair. Whoever claims it (regardless of whether he/she has already read the book) won’t be sorry and is welcome to bring a friend.

Reader's Exchange : Fred Burton, Stratfor

Who's in your Rolodex?