TV news anchor and author Jane Pauley is coming to the San Antonio Book Festival on Saturday. I spoke to her Wednesday, and it doesn’t take long before her Midwestern humility comes through.
“I’m going to be mixing with my betters, with authors and people who read books, and it’s very exciting to be in a crowd such as that." After a half step, Pauley added with a laugh: "And to be in San Antonio on top of it!”
She’s one of many authors who will be at the downtown library for what she calls not a speech, but a moderated conversation.
“It’s more intimate than standing behind a podium talking at people,” Pauley said.
While no subject is off limits, she’ll be talking about her current book, "Your Life Calling: Re-imagining the Rest of Your Life." She said the book is based on the premise that, “We’re the first generation that gets do-overs.”
By that she means that whether through divorce, or being downsized at work, or facing a tough medical problem, many middle-aged people find themselves having to essentially start over. Pauley says oftentimes the "silver-lining effect" clicks in.
“The silver-lining effect is what happens when you have no choice but to cope with something really awful,” Pauley said.
The results of trying to find that silver lining are often pretty astounding, and having been on the losing end herself, Pauley speaks from experience.
“In my 60s I am a far more confident person than I was in my 50s, and certainly my 40s,” she said.
That from someone whose first career was deeply rooted in television, and who had no idea at the time that she, "Would never ever have anticipated that I would write a book; much less now two.”
- For more on the San Antonio Book Festival visit: www.saplf.org/festival/
