About Us
Westchester Book Festival Inaugural Event in 2025
The Westchester Book Festival was founded in 2025 by a group of editors, literary agents, publishing professionals, and book lovers, who either live full-time, part-time, or visit (a lot of the time), Westchester.
When John Glusman moved to Bedford seven years ago, he was struck by the enthusiasm for the arts in Katonah, music at Caramoor, the roving Bedford choral group, Skylark, and film at the Bedford Playhouse and at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville. “But where are the books, and the authors of those books?” he wondered. That thought led to a conversation with Town Supervisor Ellen Calves over coffee one sunny May day in 2024 at LMNOP, who suggested Katonah as the inaugural site of the Westchester Book Festival, with the Katonah Village Library as the primary event space. And from that morning cup of joe, lo and behold, the Westchester Book Festival.
Here’s a little bit more about our board and advisory board members.
John Glusman, Chairman
John A. Glusman is a publishing veteran who has worked as editor-in-chief of Washington Square Press, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and most recently, W.W. Norton & Company. He has edited bestselling authors including Neil de Grasse Tyson, Richard Powers, and Erik Larson. He is a winner of the William E. Colby Award for his book, Conduct Under Fire, and a distinguished alumnus of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. He loves to read biographies in his spare time.
Michael Lynton, Vice Chair
Michael Lynton is the Chairman of Snapchat He and his wife, Jamie, have owned a home in Katonah with his sister Lili for over 30 years. He was the CEO Sony Entertainment and before that the CEO of the Penguin Group. He sits on the board of the Smithsonian.
Kimberly Witherspoon, Treasurer
Kimberly Witherspoon is a founding partner of InkWell management, a literary agency based in Manhattan. She is an avid equestrian, and she and her family have lived in North Salem for the past 25 years. She is a member of the Authors Guild, and the editor of anthologies like, Don’t Try This at Home. She is a founding board member of the Bronx Academy of Letters, a public high school in the Bronx which is committed to helping students become critical readers and writers.
Lili Lynton, Secretary
Lili Lynton and her family have shared a weekend house with her brother Michael Lynton in Katonah for 30 years. She is an avid reader, has been Daniel Boulud’s business partner for 33 years.
David Gernert, Board Member
David Gernert is the founder of The Gernert Company, a literary agency with offices in New York and Los Angeles. He is often asked to name his favorite novel, and the answer is always Lonesome Dove. He lives right smack dab on the border of Katonah and Pound Ridge.
Karen Sabath, Board Member
Lifelong reader, accidental organizer, and co-founder of The Recorder News, Karen champions local news, sustainability, and backyard beekeeping. She believes stories stitch communities together -- one library, bookstore, and book group at a time. She’s convinced that what starts local doesn’t stay local—and that’s exactly the point.
Sally Whitehill, Board Member
Sally is an author and screenwriter. She holds an MFA from NYU and is studying for her PhD at King's College, London. She loves reading, hiking and dogs.
Robert Kessler, Advisory Board Member
Robert Kessler is an audio producer/director, composer. Having worked on more than 2000 audiobooks books, Kessler was the producer/director for the Grammy Award-winning title, Still Me, with Christopher Reeve and the Grammy Nominated title, Beloved, with Toni Morrison. Some of his projects as composer include scores for PBS and the theme music for President Clinton’s Grammy Award-winning audiobook, My Life.
Erin Lovett, Advisory Board Member
Erin Lovett is Vice President and Senior Publicity Director of W.W. Norton & Company. Authors that she’s worked with include Mary Roach, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Spike Lee, and Claire Messud. Although she didn’t win an Oscar, her hand did appear in the award-winning documentary “Free Solo,” which starred Norton author Alex Honnold.
Gretchen Menzies, Advisory Board Member
Gretchen Menzies began her career as a social worker then ran a popular local parenting website, Essentialmom.com. She has participated on the boards of numerous non-profits, and currently owns a bookstore/coffee shop called the Katonah Reading Room.