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Pam's Book Club

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By KAREN HAYMON LONG, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 4, 2008

TAMPA - Before the camera rolls, talk show host Pam Iorio chats and laughs with her eight fifth-grade co-stars.

Few wandering into the studio would guess that Iorio is also a big-city mayor with a supercharged schedule. She seems so relaxed and patient with the children - all students at Rampello Downtown Partnership School.

"Mayor's Book Talk," which debuted in November, airs on CTTV, the city's cable channel. It's taped once a month, and that episode repeats throughout the month.

The hourlong show has three segments. A book discussion with the students kicks things off. Next, Carla Jimenez, co-owner of Inkwood Books, recommends good reads.

Then, the mayor talks to a Bay area author. On this segment, it's Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber, talking about "Kickoff!" the fourth children's book he has written with his twin brother, Tiki, who retired from the New York Giants in 2006.

It isn't exactly "Reading Rainbow," the award-winning PBS children's show hosted by actor LeVar Burton. But the sentiment is the same: Reading can be a lot of fun.

Iorio says she may be the only mayor in Florida hosting a TV show about books. It just seemed natural, since she has always loved to read and has passed that love on to her two children, now 18 and 19.

"I hope to promote reading to everyone," she says in the studio. "There are books for all levels and on every topic. There's bound to be something for everyone."

Iorio's earlier guests were historian Gary R. Mormino, James Swain ("Midnight Rambler") and Dorothy Smiljanich ("Then Sings My Soul: The Scott Kelly Story"). The show is filmed at the city's TV studio on Seventh Avenue.

The mayor and children share an easygoing rapport when the recording begins, and they discuss "Arthur Ashe: Young Tennis Champion," a biography by Paul Mantell.

They enthusiastically talk about the facts of Ashe's life, his triumphs, his struggles against segregation and his bad fortune when he was given HIV-tainted blood after a heart attack.

"What did you gain from this book?" the mayor asks the children.

"That you should always chase your dreams and never give up," says Ariana Mosley, 11.

"I learned about segregation," adds Zainab Aro-Lambo, 10.

"I learned to appreciate Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson and Arthur Ashe," says Alex Cedrez, 11.

Four Books At A Time

After their segment, the children gather around Barber, asking for his autograph and posing with him for pictures. He graciously signs their books and grins as their moms shoot snapshots.

He says he and Tiki have always been voracious readers. Their mother, a single mom, instilled in them a love of books from the time they were small.

Sometimes, Barber admits, grinning, he has four books going at the same time. He likes mostly fiction, science fiction and fantasy. His favorite authors are Frank Herbert, who wrote "Dune"; Sarah Dunant, known for "In the Company of the Courtesan"; and Stephen King, especially his Gunslinger books.

And yes, he says smiling again, he read all the Harry Potter books and "The Golden Compass," by Philip Pullman.

His twin prefers nonfiction - books about Thomas Jefferson and politics.

The two started writing children's books after an editor for Simon & Schuster contacted them and asked if they would be interested. She had heard her son talking about the NFL superstar twins and thought their lives would make good reading for children.

All have been published by Simon & Schuster. Their first three books, "By My Brother's Side" (2004), "Game Day" (2005) and "Teammates" (2006), are for ages 4 through 8 and are mostly picture books. "Kickoff!" is aimed at 11- to 13-year-olds and tells the story of Ronde and Tiki growing up loving to play football.

They collaborated on the book with Mantell, author of the Ashe biography the children and mayor discussed.

Encouraging "Tween" Reading

Barber says he believes books such as "Kickoff!" encourage "tweens," especially boys interested in sports, to read.

Books are in his blood, and since the time they were tiny, he has read books with his two little girls, Justyce, 4, and Yammile, 5. Tiki's two sons, Chason, 4, and A.J., 5, love books too, Barber says.

He really gets a kick out of reading his and Tiki's books to his daughters.

"I say, 'All right, we're going to read Daddy's book now,'" he says.

The eight Rampello students were chosen mostly for their passion for reading but have turned out to be extremely poised - and photogenic - on camera. They will be on the show for a year, then replaced by other young readers.

Matthew Sitmer, 10, says his friends think it's pretty cool he gets to be on a TV show.

"They say it should be on national television," he says.

Alex Cedrez likes the fact he gets to spend so much time with the mayor.

"She's really cool," he says. "She doesn't think she's too much of a person just because she's a mayor. She's a regular person like us."

ON TELEVISION

Mayor's Book Talk

WHAT: Mayor Pam Iorio hosts a show about reading. Guests include Ronde Barber this month and Tampa novelist Tim Dorsey in March.

WHEN: 3:30 p.m. Sundays, 8 p.m. Mondays, 5 p.m. Fridays and 8 a.m. Saturdays

WHERE: CTTV (City of Tampa Television), which airs on channel 15 on Verizon FIOS and channel 615 on Bright House Networks

INFORMATION: www.tampagov.net/booktalk

Book editor Karen Haymon Long can be reached at (813) 259-7618 or klong@tampatrib.com.

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