grief On the loss of Kobe Bryant BY PAT BURNS W ith my phone on mute, I was perplexed to see the number of texts I was receiving while attending a Sunday service. Somewhere around the sixth or seventh text, I decided something must have happened and I'd better see what's going on. It was January 26, 2020 and my friends all knew I would need to know that Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people were killed in a devastating helicopter crash. The shocking news stunned and saddened me. " Kobe shared his future plans and passion for more inspiring books and films to help kids see themselves as worthy and full of self-confidence. " You see, I'm the executive director and co-founder of the Orange County Children's Book Festival and I was able to secure Kobe as the Festival's featured celebrity headliner. Just a few months prior to this accident, Kobe was on the Festival's main entertainment stage introducing his newest (middle grade) book Legacy and the Queen. Thousands of people from all walks of life crowded the stage to hear his presentation. They stood in long lines to purchase his book, and 500 of those people were lucky enough to meet him and have him autograph their book. 14 GRAND SPRING 2020 Continued on next pagehttps://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0994809700/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0994809700&linkId=c0cf2342749a51234e00421ef2df453e https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B6QYSW/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B003B6QYSW&linkId=74a78ba0a510c9871c2e38f745d59213 http://www.kidsbookfestival.com/about-oc-childrens-book-festival/ http://www.kidsbookfestival.com/about-oc-childrens-book-festival/