Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

With a small allocation of funding from each of their departments—as well as the departments of other staff members who committed to their initiative—Zacchino and Reale moved forward with their plans, leading to the first book festival happening in 1996.

Around that time, University of California officials and event organizers began to disagree on budgetary matters for subsequent iterations of the festival.

Topics included "Mystery: A Dark and Stormy Night,"  "Young Adult Fiction: Problem Child,"  "Rock & A Hard Place: Security and American Ideals,"  "Poof!

Our Evaporating Economy,"  "Fiction: Intimate Strangers,"  "Mystery: Cold Cases,"  "History: The Underbelly of California,"  and "The Soloist from Page to Screen."

The festival was held on April 24 and 25, with 450 announced authors, including Father Gregory Boyle, Lisa "Hungry Girl" Lillien, Meg Cabot, Mary Higgins Clark, Dave Eggers, James Ellroy, Daisy Fuentes, Louis Gossett Jr., Terry McMillan, Bernadette Peters, Jane Smiley, and Alice Waters.

Some of the authors included Patti Smith, Jennifer Egan, Mary Higgins Clark, Nancy Temple Rodrigue, Nick Flynn, and Dave Eggers.

2009 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, campus of UCLA
Boom! Studios booth at the 2009 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles
Hidden Mickey booth at the 2011 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, on the USC campus