J.J. Watt cameos at Celebration of Reading’s $2 million night
At 11 a.m. Thursday morning, things looked bleak for the 22nd annual “A Celebrating of Reading” fundraiser slated for 6:30 p.m. that evening. The Houston skyline was engulfed in gray storm clouds, and one of the four featured authors had already dropped out — Scott Simon’s team canceled late Wednesday for fear that the “Weekend Edition Saturday” NPR host would be unable to fly out due to the dismal forecast.
Maria and Neil Bush, who chair The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, went into crisis mode.
But by the time their 30 major donors and special guests arrived at Terri and
John Havens’ River Oaks manse for a private noon luncheon, the duo had not only managed to replace Simon with Baylor College of Medicine neuroscientist
David Eagleman, but they had succeeded in replicating last year’s $2 million raised. Lunchgoers feasted on
Jackson Hicks’ barbecue shrimp, pecan-crusted chicken and strawberry shortcake, prepared from his mother’s “famous” recipe. Honorary chairs, former President George
H.W Bush and first lady Barbara Bush, were present, along with authors Kelly Corrigan, John Meacham and
Brad Meltzer. When the group broke into song in celebration of Corrigan’s daughter’s 13th birthday, Mrs. Bush whipped out her iPhone to capture the moment while Neil photobombed the shot.
Afterward, each best-selling author stood for a lighthearted Q&A session. Meltzer explained the difference between writing children’s books and adult thrillers with the quip: “Have you seen the political system today? There is no difference.
“In all seriousness,” he continued. “The difference is vocabulary.”
Corrigan said the most exciting thing that has happened to her since becoming a writer was watching her father give a toast at a 2009 party where he met George H.W. Bush: “I’m an old guy, and this is a lifetime high,” her father said.
Meacham, whose recent work “Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush” debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list last November, explained why writing about a living figure is more challenging than writing about someone who is deceased. “The dead ones don’t talk back,” Meacham said. “Factchecking was much easier with Thomas Jefferson.”
Festivities continued later that evening at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, where Texans defensive end J.J.
Watt, surprised the crowd by escorting Barbara Bush onstage for the second year in a row.
“I thought we were friends,” Watt told the former first lady. “Until I saw this.”
A video streamed before the audience of Rockets center, Dwight Howard, gifting Barbara Bush a basketball jersey emblazoned with the number “41.”
“It’s not what you think,” she assured Watt. “You’re the best co-captain I could ever have in tackling literacy deficiency.”
Eagleman, Meltzer, Corrigan and Meacham followed with short literacy presentations and readings after being introduced by Pierce Bush, Ashley Bush and Lizzie Andrews. The program closed with a candlelit concert performance of “This Little Light of Mine” and “Go Light Your World”
by gospel singers from area churches.
Most eventgoers retreated to the promenade for a light supper, but a few dined onstage with the authors and co-chairs
Shahla and Hushang Ansary, Ginger Blanton, Linda and Archie Dunham, Betty
and John Hrncir, and Annette and George Strake.
A feverish book exchange of the swag bags stuffed with “Glitter and Glue,” “Destiny and Power” or “The President’s Shadow” ensued before eventgoers exited into the clear, cloudless night.