BTW News Briefs

President Obama Signs Speech Act

On August 10, President Obama signed legislation that will protect American authors and publishers from foreign libel judgments that undermine First Amendment rights. The legislation, which passed the Senate last month, prohibits federal courts from recognizing or enforcing foreign libel judgments that do not pass First Amendment muster. It also allows American authors and publishers to go to court to seek a declaration that such a foreign judgment is not enforceable in the U.S.

Supporters of the legislation included the Association of American Publishers and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. 

GLiBA Director to Retire

Jim Dana, executive director of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association, will be retiring from the organization after GLiBA's fall trade show. Dana, who was a longtime bookseller before joining GLiBA, will be joining the Peace Corps and working in Lesotho.

“This is a bittersweet circumstance for me,” Dana wrote in a letter to GLiBA members. “On the one hand, I'm excited about a new phase of life – an adventure, really – that I'm about to embark on. On the other, GLiBA and bookselling have been a huge part of my life. It's been full of great experiences and wonderful friends. I'll be sad to be leaving it behind.”

GLiBA has opened the search for a new executive director. The job description is posted on the organization's website.

Thurber Finalists Announced

The three finalists for this year’s Thurber Prize for American Humor, announced on August 12, are:

• Jancee Dunn, Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?: And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask (Villard Books/ Random House, Inc.)
• Steve Hely,How I Became a Famous Novelist (Black Cat/Grove Press)
• Rhoda Janzen, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home (Henry Holt & Co.)

Thurber House will confer the award at a ceremony at New York’s Algonquin Hotel on October 4.

ABFFE Selects August Book of the Month

The Fundamental Holmes: A Free Speech Chronicle and Reader, edited by Ronald K.I. Collins (Cambridge University Press) is the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression's (ABFFE) August Book of the Month.

“It's a fascinating compendium that pulls together important pieces that were scattered among dozens of sources,” said ABFFE President Chris Finan. On its website, ABFFE has published an interview with Collins that explores the Supreme Court justice's views on free speech.