Film and TV stars among authors coming to Tucson Festival of Books

Mark your calendars, movie and TV fans: The screen world will be represented at the 2025 Tucson Festival of Books through filmmaker/actor Edward Burns, actor/screenplay writer Lou Diamond Phillips and actor Tim Matheson.

And book lovers note, that’s just a glimpse of what we have to look forward to. The list of more than 300 presenting authors, from every imaginable genre, is now available for the book festival, which will take over the University of Arizona Mall on March 15-16.

Edward Burns has made 14 feature films as a writer-director-actor, including Brothers McMullen (1995), and starred in many films including Saving Private Ryan (1988).

In 2015 he published “Independent Ed,” an inside look at his two decades in independent filmmaking.

At the Tucson book festival Burns will promote his first novel, “A Kid from Marlboro Road” (Seven Stories Press, August 2024), based on his childhood memories and the Irish American communities of the Bronx and Long Island.

Lou Diamond Phillips is known for his roles in La Bamba (1987, as Ritchie Valens), Stand and Deliver (1988) and on the Netflix series Longmire (as Henry Standing Bear), as well as in Young Guns (1988, which was partially filmed at Old Tucson).

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He co-wrote the screenplays for “Trespasses” and “Dangerous Touch,” and wrote the screenplay for “Ambition.”

His new book, “The Tinderbox: Underground Movement” (Aethon Books, November 2024, sci-fi-/fantasy-horror genre) is the sequel to his first novel, “The Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira.”

Tim Matheson, currently starring in the Netflix series Virgin River, is a two-time Primetime Emmy Award-nominated actor and director. He’s best known for roles in Animal House, The West Wing, Magnum Force and Fletch.

His book is “Damn Glad to Meet You: My Seven Decades in the Hollywood Trenches” (Hachette Books, January 2024).