Gingerbread Lane, a fundraiser for Welcome House, is now open at Tower City.  Ten elaborate structures created by some of the area’s best pastry chefs are now on display, and will be auctioned off December 3rd.  One of those chefs is SynDee Bergen of “A Cookie and a Cupcake”  in Tremont.  She is joined by Todd Schwartz, who came up with the Gingerbread Lane idea last year.  www.welcomehouseinc.org

The Great Influenza; The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History is about the sickness that killed between 50 and 100 million people less than 100 years ago, and author John Barry says the current H1N1 flu virus is similar. http://johnmbarry.com/

“Gimme Rewrite, Sweetheart: Tales from the Last Glory Days of Cleveland Newspapers”  is John Tidyman’s latest effort. The book includes stories told by dozens of veteran newspaper men and women about life on the job at Cleveland’s newspapers during the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s when fierce competition between the Cleveland Press and the Plain Dealer made putting out a daily paper the most exciting job in town. Read a free sample chapter online at:        

Business Coach Diane Helbig  of Seize This Day Coaching discusses her book, Lemonade Stand Simple.  www.seizethisdaycoaching.com

Our House is a residential facility for older adults who have enough issues to prevent them from living entirely on their own, but can still be independent.  Operators refer to Our House as “Assisted Living with an Attitude.”  Marguerite VanDerwyst, President and CEO of Our House, and Marketing Director Cory Niebes  are the guests.  www.ourhouseinc.com  440-835-2110

Renee’ DeLuca was adopted at birth, but as an adult successfully searched for her birth mother and father.  She tells how the search changed her life, and offers information to others about their birth parents, and about adopted children.  Contact the International Soundex Reunion Registry at www.isrr.com, or  888-886-ISRR.   Or to talk to a search support person at Adoption Network Cleveland, call 216-325-1000, or go to http://www.adoptionnetwork.org/

Dr. Ron Adams of the Ohio Permanente group explains their program designed to help people who suffer with diabetes. www.kp.org

The 2009 Festival of trees begins next week at the Cleveland Playhouse.  Managing Director Kevin Moore and Susan Delaney, Chairperson of the opening “Light Up the Night” event describe this year’s celebration. http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com/index.asp

The current Cleveland Pops season is underway.  Conductor and orchestra founder Carl Topilow has a preview. http://www.clevelandpops.com/

“Jungle” Bob Tuma has written a children’s book about his menagerie.  BobTails is available at www.halopublishing.com, www.junglebob.tv, or www.amazon.com.

Sports Illustrated author Chris Ballard has written a book about basketball called, The Art of a Beautiful Game; The Thinking Fan’s Tour of the NBA. Guess who’s on the cover? #23.  Ballard has also written magazine articles about LeBron James. www.simonandschuster.com

Austin Ratner is an author who grew up in Shaker Heights, and who will return to address the Mandel JCC’s Festival of Jewish Books and Authors on Monday, November 16th.  His debut novel is The Jump Artist.  And if you attend Austin’s presentation and fall ill, you’ll be in good hands; he also has a medical degree fcrom the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  http://www.mandeljcc.org/index.php?submenu=book_fest&src=gendocs&ref=BookFestival&category=arts_culture

Going to the Pond is the name of local author Amy Fulton’s first book.  It’s a children’s book, and Amy explains how she was inspired to write it, and the process she used to publish the book. www.halopublishing.com

Natalie Friedl has also written a children’s book, also published by Halo Publishing, called Help Me Pray Today.  It’s is not as widely available as Amy’s book, because Natalie says she likes to meet her readers.  The book is available online, at www.helpmepraytoday.weebly.com

Finally, Crista Stewart is the mother of four from Pennsylvania, and  has written a children’s book called The Little Frog. www.cristastewartslittlefrog.com

Beverly Soggs is a Child Life Specialist at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital.  She and Emily Darsie, a Music Therapist, work for Family and Child Life Services at Rainbow, and they explain their work, just a few days in advance of the Rainbow Radiothon, November 12th and 13th. http://www.uhhospitals.org/Default.aspx?alias=www.uhhospitals.org/rainbowchildren            http://www.wdok.com/WDOK-Rainbow-Radiothon/5153977