Celebrities

• Zev Buffman, Festival Chairman; veteran Broadway Producer and current CEO/President RiverPark Center – with 40 Broadway plays, musicals and 27 Tony nominations to his record, Buffman brings a vast array of experiences to Discovering New Mysteries. He and colleagues like Angela Lansbury and William Morris became alarmed that the Mystery Play, once a main staple on Broadway, Toronto and the West End had all but disappeared. So, 3 years ago he began an offensive to encourage new writers to tackle writing mystery plays and screenplays. It is his mastery that is developing new mysteries.
• Lee Goldberg Co-Chair came to the IMWF in 2008 when his screenplay Mapes for Hire was a finalist. Lee Goldberg is a two-time Edgar Award nominee whose many TV writing and producing credits include Martial Law, Diagnosis Murder, The Cosby Mysteries, Hunter, Spenser: For Hire, Nero Wolfe, Missing and Monk. He’s also the author of My Gun Has Bullets, Beyond the Beyond, Successful Television Writing, The Man With The Iron-On Badge and the Diagnosis Murder and Monk series of original mystery novels. As a TV development consultant, he's worked for production companies and broadcasters in Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America and is the co-founder of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers.
• Sue Grafton, Louisville's great, best selling author. A Kentucky native and a prolific writer of chronological series of mystery novels known as the "Alphabet Series." Grafton has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of Americal She is published in more than 15 languages and 20 countries.
• David Breckman joins the Mystery Festival fun through our mutual friend Lee Goldberg. David is a producer, writer and director currently working with the hit television series MONK. He also wrote more than 20 episodes of Saturday Night Live and worked with stars like John Goodman, Rob Lowe, and Mike Myers. David will write and direct avid mystery fans and theatre students in a mini-mystery movie to be screened during the Sunday night Angie Award Ceremony and Dinner.
• Samuel "Biff" Liff, who has directed and worked on many hits, including "My Fair Lady," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "The Matchmaker" and "Call Me Mister." He has worked with stars such as Shirley Booth, Thornton Wilder, David Niven, Carol Channing, Gloria Swanson and Tyrone Guthrie. For the last 25 years, he has been heading the Theatre Division of the William Morris Agency, the world's largest and oldest entertainment agency. Liff represents a variety of clients in the theatrical field, including Julie Andrews, Julie Harris, Angela Lansbury, Jane Alexander and Chita Rivera.
• Robert S. Levinson – His novel "The Elvis and Marilyn Affair" received "Best Novel About Hollywood" recognition from the Hollywood Press Club. A winner of the Ellery Queen Readers Award for 3 consecutive years, his most recent novels "Ask a Dead Man" and "Where the Lies Begin" both were selected for The Los Angeles Times Best seller list. Robert served on the Board of Directors for Mystery Writers of America, the Writers Guild of America and the Country Music Association. He recently wrote and produced The Edgar Awards Gala in New York City, as well as the new International Thriller Writers Awards Gala. He graciously offered to assist us in our New Festival's Gala this coming June.
• William Link – An astonishing creator of numerous Television series classics: Peter Falk's "Columbo", Angela Lansbury's "Murder She Wrote", The Bill Cosby Mysteries, Mannix, Ellery Queen and others. Winner of 2 Emmy Awards, the Edgar Award. The Golden Globe Award, the Peabody award, the Christopher Award, The Hall of fame of Television Arts and Sciences and a past president of the Mystery Writers of America.

Recent Festival Guests

• Mary Higgins Clark, known in the genre as the Queen of Suspense, her success is seen both on and off the page. A worldwide best selling author, Mary Higgins Clark has written twenty-five suspense novels, selling more than 80 million copies just in the United States. Ms. Clark's writing career spans forty years and has brought industry top honors including a Mystery Writers of America annual award given in her name. Now, she will add an honorary Angie Award and the 2008 First Lady of Mystery title bestowed upon her during this summer's International Mystery Writers' Festival.

• Legendary actor Gene Hackman is switching from the silver screen to the silver pen this summer as he made a special appearance during the 2008 International Mystery Writers' Festival in Owensboro, KY.
  Hackman and his co-author Daniel Lenihan are promoting their new novel, Escape from Andersonville: A Novel of the Civil War. These two accomplished artists are receiving an honorary Angie Award on Saturday, June 21st – the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Award.