The John Cooper School celebrated the success of the 5th Annual Signatures Author Series in The Woodlands on Nov. 11, 2009, with approximately 700 guests in attendance to hear Marley & Me author John Grogan.

“Each year, our goal is to have 600-800 guests join us, and we feel fortunate to have met this goal each year, ” said 2009 Signatures chairperson Isela Atwood. “Attendance is always based on interest in the author and we are very pleased to have had the opportunity to host a diverse array of authors each year. ” The annual luncheon event has hosted Barbara Bush, Mitch Albom, Dave Barry and Anthony Bourdain in years past.

A chair donated by Jane Page Design Group and signed by Grogan was auctioned off and raised $1,100. The Theodore Alexander, hand-carved walnut chair, was taken home by the top bidder, Shirelle Chimenti.

Also on hand at the event were nine local authors, pet organizations and representatives from Montgomery Pet Partners, a locally based nonprofit organization that relies on volunteers and their

John Grogan entertained the audience with stories about the writing of his bestseller, Marley & Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog, and provided behind-the-scenes humorous stories surrounding the making of the film starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson. He also discussed the writing process for his memoir, The Longest Trip Home and finished his presentation by taking questions and answers from the audience.

Grogan explained in his speech that after the success of Marley & Me, he found that young readers also wanted to read about Marley, so he wrote a young reader ’s version of the non-fiction book, aimed at middle school-aged kids. He has also written three children ’s books (fiction) loosely based on the antics of a dog named Marley. The day after his Signatures presentation, Grogan read his most recent children ’s book, Marley Goes to School, to third- through fifth- graders at the Cooper campus.l