THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN TO BE BOOKEXPO AMERICA’S
CONFERENCE KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Noted Author Produces Manifesto for Change in America –
While Providing Focal Point for "Green" Programming at Convention

Norwalk, CT, January 23, 2008: BookExpo America (BEA) organizers have today announced that three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and National Book Award recipient Thomas L. Friedman will be BEA’s Conference Keynote Speaker where he will appear at the convention on Friday, May 30 at 11am. Convention officials note that, with the exception of the exhibit hall, BEA will close all other convention related programming during Mr. Friedman’s appearance. BEA will take place this year at the Los Angeles Convention Center, May 29 – June 1, 2008.

Mr. Friedman’s new book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution—and How It Can Renew America will be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on August 19, 2008. In his appearance at BEA, Mr. Friedmanwill thoroughly discuss and introduce his new book which his publisher describes as a "manifesto for our climate-challenged future". In his new book, Friedman proposes that an ambitious national strategy – which he calls "Geo-Greenism" – is not only what weneed to save the planet from overheating; it is what we need to make America healthier, richer, more innovative, more productive, and more secure.

BEA officials note that they were just beginning to consider this year’s conferenceprogramming on "green" trends and issues when Mr. Friedman’s book was presented to them. It became immediately apparent that Mr. Friedman would raise the bar and provide a perfect framework for discussion about all "green" related trends and issues at this year’s convention.

"Under any circumstance, it would be an honor to have Thomas Friedman speak at BEA," notes Lance Fensterman, Vice President and Event Director for BookExpo America. "But we are especially pleased and proud to have been able to secure him for this book, and for this Keynote event. Thomas Friedman’s message not only dovetails nicely with our own programming, but it promises to be a definitive ‘call to arms’ for how we manage our environment in the future. His appearance certainly provides depthand substance for discussion at BEA."

In commenting upon his author’s appearance at BEA, Jonathan Galassi, President &Publisher of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, notes: "I’m ecstatic that Tom is going to be the Keynoter at BEA this year. It will give booksellers a chance to connect personally with one of the great communicators of our time. It will also give him a vital sense of the committed bookselling family who enable his ground-breaking ideas to find the broades tpossible readership."

In addition to three Pulitzer Prizes and a National Book Award (From Beirut to Jerusalem), Thomas L. Friedman is well-known as the foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times and as a bestselling author. His #1 bestseller The World is Flat, has been translated into 33 languages, and has helped millions of readers to see globalizationin a new way. In Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution—and How It Can Renew America, Friedman explains a new era—the Energy-Climate era—through an illuminating account of recent events. He shows how 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the flattening of the world by the Internet (which brought 3 billion new consumers onto the world stage) have combined to bring climate and energy issues to Main Street. But they have not gone very far down Main Street; the much-touted "green revolution" has hardly begun. Friedman sets out the clean technology breakthroughs we, and the world, will need; he shows that the ET (Energy Technology) revolution will be both transformative and disruptive; and he explains whyAmerica must lead this revolution—with the first Green President and a Green New Deal, spurred by the Greenest Generation.

In commenting on the significance of Friedman’s appearance on behalf of the Conference Program at BEA, Mark Dressler, BEA’s Director of Education, notes: "America’s publishers are poised to release a plethora of "green" titles providing in-depth clarity and edification to the world’s citizens who are changing their ideals and habits to support and accommodate various shades of green lifestyles. BEA "green" programming will feature changing industry practice along with authors whose books target corporate, public and private lifestyle choices and issues. It is a pleasure and an honor to have Thomas Friedman lead our discussion in this area."

Thomas Friedman’s appearance is non-ticketed and is open to all BEA badged convention attendees. Seating will be limited.