On Friday, Lapeer East High School’s AP Literature and Composition classes were given the opportunity to learn about the life of an author, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Dr. Tom Foster, an English Professor at UM-Flint and the author of numerous books including “How to Read Literature Like a Professor,” spoke to the combined classes of teachers Amy Anderson and Bill Spruyette.

The class had a lot of questions for Dr. Foster about the aforementioned book, required reading for their AP course.

Dr. Foster spoke at length about the process of authoring books, and how many do their work in obscurity — especially those who strictly author academic works. He talked about the relationship between author and publisher, the creation of a proposal (not a prospectus, that sounds “too academic”) and marketing your work.

Near the end of the class, he discussed his arduous task of settling on 25 Books that Shaped America, his latest book. And get it right, reader, it’s not definitive (it’s not “the” 25 books…)

Thank  you to Dr. Tom Foster for taking the time to spend an afternoon with our students.