Getting Janis On (and Off) Television

Host Tab O'Neal (left), Janis Jaquith and moi this a.m.^

It was funny watching Janis Jaquith this morning on what I took to be her first TV appearance. She was almost giddy and was even more entertaining than usual. NPR essayist and newspaper columnist Janis is the keynote speaker for next week's Roanoke Regional Writers Conference (Jan. 22-23 at Hollins, read about it here; look to the right for details) and has written and spoken to large audiences for years.

But there seems to be something about TV that brings out this ... well ... uh ... something in people. We had sat for nearly an hour awaiting our turn among five segments of Tab O'Neal's "Living in the Heart of Virginia," which will air around mid-day Monday of next week.

We watched some lawyers talk about bankruptcy, a couple of musicians who do "pre-squaredance" tunes (I'm working on a novel with a squaredance McGuffin and talked to them for a bit), people from an eldercare facility and a physician discussing breast cancer before it was our turn.

It was a short segment, but Tab's been doing this for a while, so we got it all said, but I don't think Janis wanted to leave. You can hear more of what she has to say Friday night at the wine reception when she gives the keynote talk and then again the next day when she has a class on writing essays for radio. It's always a popular class and Janis is not only funny, she can flat write. You can register here.