Arts Entertainment
Literary escort and former Detroiter Naomi Epii
takes what she's learned from fizmoi
authors to help budding
writers find their muse
SHARI S. COHEN
Special to the Jewish News
n almost any workday, liter-
ary escort Naomi Epel can
be found driving around a
well-known author from an
interview at a television studio to a
bookstore for a reading. The author
might be a best-selling novelist like
John Berendt; an expert in a particular
field, such as lawyer Alan Dershowitz;
or an activist promoting her views,
like feminist writer Gloria Steinem.
Shari S. Cohen is a freelance writer
who lives in Bloomfield Hills.
4/30
1999
86 Detroit Jewish News
"Dershowitz was very funny and
very into being Jewish. Even though
he was here right after the 0. J.
Simpson trial, he was much more
interested in talking about Judaism,"
recalls Epel in an interview from her
San Francisco home. "Gloria Steinem
was very gracious, very good at being
lovely to people," she says.
Being a literary escort is not a pop-
ular profession in Detroit, Epel's
hometown, but book tours are impor-
tant in publishing, especially in the
major literary markets on the East and
West coasts.
A literary escort is part chauffeur,
part tour guide and part companion
for an author on the promotional cir-
cuit. "It's great conversation with real-
ly interesting people," says Epel.
Although she is a little concerned
about an upcoming assignment to
drive around controversial author
Salman Rushdie, Epel says there are
few drawbacks to her kind of work.
For her, it's worth putting up with the
frustrations of traffic and the
unfriendliness of a few writers for the
opportunity to meet and shepherd the
others around.
In fact, Epel used her "day job" as
the inspiration to write two books of
her own. Writers Dreaming (Vinta
Books; $13), published in 1993,
collection of interviews with 26 n
elists — ranging from Stephen Ki
Amy Tan and Elmore Leonard to
Maya Angelou, Anne Rice and
Robert Stone — about their drear
and the creative process. Her new,
work, The Observation Deck: A -lb,
Kit for Writers (Chronicle Books;
$19.95), published last year, is
attractively packaged in a box, wh
contains a small, soft-covered vol-
ume and a deck of 50 cleverly
designed cards. Each card is impri
ed with a brief instruction, such a
r /