Author Thomas H. Cook doesn’t really consider himself a crime novelist, and in fact his his latest book, which he’ll discuss at the 10th annual Ragdale Novel Affair fundraiser April 29 and 30, isn’t a work of fiction at all. Yet, crime fiction and mystery are the genres for which he is best known.
One big reason for that, Cook believes, is the fact that his very first book, “Blood Innocents,” was nominated for an Edgar Award in 1980 by the Mystery Writers of America. “And after that,” he said, “you’re sort of a mystery writer even if you didn’t plan to be.”
Though Cook — and many critics — describe his more than two dozen books as serious, mainstream novels combined with elements of crime and mystery, he became an Edgar Award winner in 1997 with “The Chatham School Affair.” That makes him one of many major prize winners and otherwise celebrated authors and artists being honored at Novel Affair, including novelists Jane Hamilton, Anne LeClaire, Gail Tsukiyama, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Lisa Genova, Charles Finch, Aleksandar Hemon, Casey Sherman and Kat Falls; Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls, sculptor Indira Johnson and sculptor, painter, and installation artist Sabina Ott. All 13 honorees will be feted at a gala reception April 29 in the home of Ragdale board member Sandy Deromedi, where each will speak about their work. And two or three honorees will be guests at six dinner parties April 30 in private Lake Forest Homes.
All proceeds benefit the nonprofit Lake Forest artists’ community that provides residencies for author and artists on the former estate of early 20th-century architect Howard Van Doren Shaw.
“The dinner parties are always intimate gatherings, even if there are 30 people at the table,” said Deromedi. “People have the rare opportunity to have a one-on-one, conversational experience with authors or artists they admire. How often does that happen, if you’re a person who loves to read or is excited by art?
“The authors I’ve talked to seem to feel that way also. Novel Affair is a sophisticated event, yet there’s something so cozy and intimate about it, unlike when they’re touring and doing readings in a bookstore as people wander in and out. They know the people at this event are there to show their support and say, ‘We love you; keep doing what you’re doing. You make our world a colorful place.'”
Cook first attended Novel Affair several years ago after some friends convinced him to go.
“They said it was a good thing to do because what Ragdale does is is very good — and I found that I agreed with them,” said Cook. “That’s why I decided to do it again this year. The whole experience is just really, really enjoyable. The people who run it are nice, the writers you meet there are nice and it makes for a rare opportunity to enjoy two or three days of social life. Writers don’t get a lot of that, working alone.”
Cook appears to be a very nice man himself, yet, interestingly, “nice” might not be the first word to come to mind for most people as a description of the the subject matter of Cook’s latest work, “Tragic Shores” — the book he plans to discuss at Novel Affair. His first major work of non-fiction, “Tragic Shores” (which will be released in England early next year) is a travel memoir devoted to what he describes as the world’s “dark places.” Auschwitz is among the sites he visited and wrote about for “Tragic Shores” and so is Machecoul, the 15th-century castle of Gilles de Rais, a hugely wealthy French aristocrat and one of the first recorded serial killers, reportedly guilty of sexually violating and murdering hundreds of young boys.
Cook first began making a habit of visiting such place with his family years ago when they lived in Madrid. Why? Because he noticed “the conversation was better” after visiting such places.
“We’d be talking about human history and suffering and injustice and it made for much richer discussion,” he said.
Similarly, Cook is quick to point out that he considers “Tragic Shores” illuminating, not ghoulish. The first line of the book, in fact, is: “I have come to thank dark places for the light they bring to life.”
“Despite the title, it really is a hopeful, uplifting book,” he said. “At least, I tried to make it that way. It’s not just one long trudge through the abattoir of human history. I can’t imagine anything more boring or depressing than that.”
For example, Cook mentions that the fulfillment of his longtime desire to visit the fortress of Alcazar, site of one of the most dramatic scenes of the 1930s Spanish Civil War, had a surprisingly personal affect on him. In 1936, Colonel Jose Moscardo had been ordered to defend the fortress at all costs against pro-Communist Republican army leaders. At one point in the siege, Moscardo was informed that the Republicans had captured his son and would execute him if his father did not surrender. Famously, after asking to speak to him on the telephone, Moscardo simply said, “Prepare to die, my son.”
“They still have the telephone there,” Cook said. “It’s encased in plastic on Moscardo’s desk. Now, I had always had a strong impulse to see that phone, ever since hearing that story in the documentary ‘To Die in Madrid.’
“Yet, when I saw it, instead of thinking about Colonel Moscardo, I thought about my father. And all of a sudden I felt much more connected to him. I came to appreciate him much more than I ever had before. And I don’t think that would have happened had I not gone to the Alcazar.”
Ragdale’s Novel Affair
When and where: April 29 and 30 in five private homes in Lake Forest.
Tickets: April 29 tickets are $200 general admission or $275 including VIP champagne reception. Tickets for April 30 are $300. The two-evening admission price of $500 includes the champagne reception.
Contact: 847-234-1063; www.ragdale.org
