James Reasoner Tragedy

[Christa Faust]

I always seem to be the last to learn of current events but I haven't seen other posts on Crimespace about the tragic fire that destroyed the home of prolific mystery and western author James Reasoner so I thought I'd repost this request for donations from Bill Crider. Please consider donating either books or money to help a fellow author who has suffered any book collector's worst nightmare.

From Bill Crider's blog:

Longtime Western writer and WWA member James Reasoner and wife Livia lost their house and studio, and all their belongings, in a fire earlier this week. They're OK, as are their dogs and children, but got out with only their clothes they were wearing. Books, pulps, comics, everything else, gone. "This is totally overwhelming," James says.

To help the family, Western Writers of America and Kensington Books have agreed to make sizable contributions and ask anyone who would also like to contribute to send cash donations to the WWA Executive Director's office in Albuquerque, N.M. Make the check out to Western Writers of America and put in the memo that the money is for the James Reasoner Emergency Fund.

Checks should be mailed to:
WWA
MSC06 3770
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001

Since James and Livia also lost their sizable library, donations are also being sought to help restock their bookcases whenever they have a new home. Kim Lionetti, Livia's agent at BookEnds, has generously agreed to accept any BOOK donations and keep them until the Reasoners have a place to put them. Books should be sent to:
Kim Lionetti
BookEnds Inc.
136 Long Hill Road
Gillette, NJ 07933

[Patricia Abbott]

I wonder if anyone can answer this re: books. I have lots of books I can ship to NJ, but many of them are either released library books or fairly tattered paperbacks. Do they want this sort of thing for their shelves or should it really be new books? I just don't want to load Kim down with books she has to dispose of somehow. Also, is any genre welcome or are they looking for crime mostly?

[Christa Faust]

Ms Lionetti may be able to answer your questions about which books would be best to send. You can contact her directly at klionetti AT bookends-inc DOTcom.

[Bill Crider]

Patti, they'll want is copies of their own books, for sure. And I expect they might eventually let people know what other kinds of books they'd like to have. I have some things set aside, but I'm going to wait until they're back on their feet before sending anything.

[Graham Powell]

Those wildfires were no friggin' joke. I live on the outskirts of Fort Worth, about 20 miles east of Weatherford, and there was a large brush fire just a few miles from my house. If circumstances had been different I could have been the one sitting on the curb, looking at a smoking ruin.