[ ALEX WOLFF, MALE, HE/HIM ] â If youâre strolling Derry today, you might see [ MITCHELL âMITCHâ KAPLAN ] along the way! The [ TWENTY FOUR ] year old can usually be found at [ THE ALADDIN THEATER or DERRY COMMUNITY COLLEGE ], when they arenât busy with [ GETTING HIGH or HORROR HUNTING IN TOWN ]. I hear they seem to be [ INTELLIGENT and FUNNY ], but they are also rumored to be [ DEPRESSED and HYSTERICAL ]. Â Iâm sure theyâd never admit it, but theyâre terrified of [ SPIDERS ].
TRIGGERS: Depression, Religion, Ghosts and Spirits, Drug Use, Cheating, Therapy
â Mitch was born and raised in Derry, Maine, alongside his twin brother, Michael, and his older brother, Nicholas. Born three minutes after his twin, Mitch has always claimed the title as the baby of the Kaplan family.
â Despite being the youngest, Mitch was far from the family favorite. Growing up in a Jewish household, he didnât find himself as certain in such a religion as his parents wanted him to be, even from a young age. Growing up, this only became more apparent. Rather than following in the footsteps his family molded for him, he chose to push religion to the side, believing instead that people should be good because they want to be decent human beings, rather than because some unknown force condemned them to be.
â Mitch has always loved movies. Whether it be a lazy Sunday night, or an early Monday morning, his eyes were nearly always glued to a television, finding himself particularly drawn to horror films. As he grew older, this fascination only grew stronger, though he is convinced it has nothing to do with the films that paved his adolescence. Instead, the youngest Kaplan boy is convinced that he can see spirits and things of the âother worldâ something that has affected him more negatively than not. He currently keeps an ongoing journal, one he had started back in elementary school, of his encounters, and uses these notes for reference in the novel heâs been working on. Itâs been a long time in the works, but writing can be hard when youâre constantly getting high to cope with the things youâve seen, right?
â Oddities aside, Mitch has never truly thrown himself into the idea of romance, or sought out the feeling of love. He finds himself happiest when he is alone, or with his friends, but doesnât believe he needs a girl to complete himself. That being said, he had opened his heart once in the past, to a girl that only proved why he was better off on his own. She had cheated on him, numerous times, convincing him to take her back with each mistake until the boyâs already existent depression began to worsen. In the end, she was the one to break off the relationship, being as Mitch was too in love with her to part, despite knowing they needed to.
â Mitch continues to scour Derry for new mysteries, and is willing to talk to just about anyone about the things he believes in. Even his therapist, who he is convinced only uses the information to name him insane.
â Hunting spirits and sleeping until two in the afternoon can be a decent routine most days, but sometimes Mitch is inclined to spend the day with a bong in hand watching shitty comedy reruns, or chasing a line of coke or baggie of pills at whatever party is going on for the night, attempting to have fun and âact his ageâ as his therapist suggests -- though heâs certain that isnât what the man meant.
October 15, 8:40am, Mitchell Kaplan, our 2011 Literarian Award recipient and chair of Miami Book Fair International, and Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep announce our 2014 National Book Awards Finalists.Â
There's something intimate about walking into an independent bookstore: sometimes it's the lighting, other times, the discussion groups and author events--but more than anything, for me, it's the array of titles on islands, on shelves, in people's hands.
And everytime I walk into Books and Books, on Aragon between Ponce De Leon and Salzedo, I feel like I'm at home. Even the quiet nights have their own particular charm: the feeling that there's something there I've yet to discover.
Mind you, I've been to other indie bookstores. Hell, I've hung out at the big-boxes, too; between Barnes & Noble and Borders, I've grown and fed my manga collection. (And every now and again, stumbled onto obscure and wonderful titles, too.)
What keeps me coming back to Books and Books, then? A few things:
The people who work there know and love books.From the store's founder, Mitchell Kaplan, onward, the people who man the registers, stock the shelves, and coordinate the events are all readers, if not full-on bibliophiles. When you see a title with "Staff Recommends"--you know they've read it, cover to cover, with great enthusiasm.
They've been at this for 30 years.Many bookstores come and go--indie and big-box alike. B & B has grown, from a smallish, two-story corner building at the corner of Aragon and Salzedo, into a small empire, with stores at Miami Beach, Bal Harbour, the Hamptons, Grand Cayman, Miami International Airport, and the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale. Two stores have cafes; they have a gift shop at the Coral Gables Museum; and two newsstands keep it rocking in Bal Harbour and downtown Miami.
Authors love this store!Go on, check the website, and see how many authors, artists, and other fab people appear at B & B over the course of a month. Take your time...gobsmacked yet? I can attest--from a recent signing night for Charlaine Harris--that the crowds came away with books and autographs, and quite possibly an eyeful author photos in the cafe--Salman Rushdie, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Edwige Danticat, et alia.
Super reading and discussion groups.The Gables store alone hosts terrific groups almost every day. From mysteries (Mondays are Murder) to
The National Book Foundation will bestow the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community on Mitchell Kaplan, a co-founder of the Miami International Book Fair, the largest book fair in the country, at the 62nd National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner at Cipriani, Wall Street, in New York City on Wednesday, November 16, 2011.
Born in Miami, Florida, Mitchell Kaplan is best known for the creation of the Miami International Book Fair, the largest community book festival in the United States and a model for book fairs across the country.
Kaplan began his working career as a high school English teacher. Two years after opening an independent bookstore, Books & Books, Kaplan, along with the Dade County Library and other independent bookstore owners, was asked by the president of the downtown Wolfson campus of the Miami-Dade College, Eduardo J. PadrĂłn, to help put on a book fair, originally called "Books by the Bay."
Kaplan emerged as one of the influential leaders of the Fair that has created community pride and has become a model for other fairs across the country. The Fair brings over 300 renowned national and international authors exhibitors to a weeklong celebration of all things literary and includes pavilions for translation, comics, children, and young adults.
In addition to overseeing five bookstores, including one located in Grand Cayman, Kaplan serves as the Chair of the Miami Book Fair Board of Directors and on the steering committee of the Florida Center for the Literary Arts, Miami-Dade College's literary center. He has served as President of the American Booksellers Association, and on the Board of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. He lives in Miami with his wife, Rachelle, and their twin sons, Jonah and Daniel, and their daughter, Anya.
