Jerry Springer isn’t known for his writing  — he’s more P.T. Barnum than Mark Twain. But he’s still the keynote speaker for this year’s St. Louis Jewish Book Festival.
The festival, which begins Nov. 2, requires every speaker to have published a book within the last year. That is, except the headliner, who acts as sort of a carnival barker to draw the crowd in. The keynote is often an actor or TV personality. Last year, it was Paul Reiser, best known for the sit-com “Mad About You.” A couple of years ago, it was William Shatner. Those guys look like members of Mensa compared to Springer, usually referred to as a “controversial” talk show host of trash TV. He’s also host of “America’s Got Talent.”
Anyway, Springer, besides being former mayor of Cincinnati, is actually a published author: “Ringmaster” came out almost a decade ago. And he’s probably much smarter than his reputation. He’ll no doubt be an entertaining keynote speaker.
But if you are interested in someone with a little more weight, there’s another “Jerry” in the lineup. Jerry White, a leader of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, was a co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. He’ll be talking about his book on Nov. 6 - less-noticed than Jerry Springer, perhaps, but still appreciated.
For the full lineup: http://www.jccstl.com/content/406/book_festival_schedule.aspx#tophttp://