At Community House Luncheon, Author Michael Connelly Credits Libraries for His Success

They came from places such as Woodhaven, Minnesota and down the street. They included lifetime fans and Metro Detroit’s own literary giant, Elmore Leonard. In the end, they all came to celebrate and visit with best-selling author Michael Connelly, who visited  on Thursday afternoon for a .

The event brought an end to this year’s Everyone’s Reading program, which began in February and featured Connelly’s legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer as its 2011 title selection.

More than 90 Connelly admirers paid the $40 fee to meet and lunch with the author of more than 22 novels, who made sure to sign copies of his latest book, The Fifth Witness.

Connelly expressed his admiration of libraries, including Birmingham's , as important public institutions. “I might not be here today if it wasn’t for the library,” Connelly said.

Connelly credits the local public library for the many hours he clocked reading as a child in Florida. Connelly’s mother was a bank teller, he said, and in the summer she would drop him off at the library in the morning and pick him up after work. Having The Lincoln Lawyer chosen as the Everyone’s Reading was “fulfilling,” he said, noting he was “happy to take part in anything that supports the library.”

Fans came from near and far to see Connelly up close. Aimee Sutherland flew in from Minnesota with her mother Gini as a birthday present. “She’s a huge fan,” Sutherland said, referring to her mother. “She’s been reading him forever.”

Longtime Connelly readers Preston Abadie and Jonathan Koweck of Woodhaven bought copies of The Fifth Witness and were thrilled to have the author autograph them in person. “I’ve been reading him since The Black Echo,” Abadie said, adding he was “happy to attend anything to support reading.” 

Also in the crowd: Bloomfield Village resident and best-selling author in his own right Elmore Leonard and his son Peter, who stopped by to dine and chat with Connelly.

Though Connelly doesn’t have ties to the state of Michigan, his publicist Heather Rizzo felt that the Everyone's Reading selection of The Lincoln Lawyer was “perfect timing with the release of the movie.” The film adaptation of Connelly's novel opened last month and stars Matthew McConaughey.

Matt Church, associate director of the Baldwin Public Library, said the luncheon tickets “quickly sold” and he was pleased with the success of the event and the response to the Everyone’s Reading program. All proceeds from the Meet and Greet event go to the Baldwin Public Library and The Community House.

for the Performing Arts at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield on Thursday evening, where discussed his work in front of an overflow crowd of more than 300 people and signed books.