THIS JUST IN: “Mad About You” star Helen Hunt will be the keynote speaker kicking off this year’s 31st Annual St. Louis Jewish Book Festival on Nov. 1 at the new Staenberg Family Complex at the Jewish Community Center in Creve Coeur.

Hunt’s co-star on the show, Paul Reiser, was the festival’s keynote speaker in 2007 and had such a good time here that he persuaded Hunt to accept the invitation to open this year’s festival, according to organizers.

The Academy Award-winning actress will be interviewed on stage and in front of the Festival audience by KMOX NewsTalk Radio’s Charlie Brennan. She will also take questions from the audience. Following her talk, Hunt will be the guest of honor at a gala patron dinner at the Sheraton Westport Lakeside Chalet. Eileen Edelman, Kitty Gross and Judy Schwartz Jaffe are co-chairing the dinner.

When Reiser was here he talked about those who viewed “Mad About You,” as a show about a relationship between a Jew and a non-Jew. “I never conceived it as a show about a Jew and a non-Jew. When Helen auditioned, she was perfect for the part … Actually, (she) seems very Jewish since she is smart and funny, and in real life she is partly Jewish.

Darla Grossberg and Gail Feldstein are co-chairing the festival, which runs through Nov. 11. Aside from a vast array of authors, there will be a concert event with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and a special “Missouri’s Own Local Authors” program.

For more information on the Jewish Book Festival, or for tickets, call 314-442-3299.