Eat, Play, Love

Committed author Elizabeth Gilbert wows Alley crowd

Author Elizabeth Gilbert was toast of a dinner in the board room at the AlleyTheatre prior to her reading on the main stage of the theater.
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
CultureMap editor-at-large Shelby Hodge interviewed Elizabeth Gilbert withquestions from the audience and from her personal stash.
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert read from her latest book, Committed.
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
It was a sell-out crowd that packed the Alley Theatre for the Elizabeth Gilbertevening that benefited the Ucross Foundation.
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
A book-signing followed Elizbeth Gilbert's reading at the Alley Theatre.
Photo by Anthony Rathbun

I confess that I have not read Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling book Eat, Pray, Love, even though most of my female friends have and even though Julia Roberts is starring in the film to be released in August. But in anticipation of my on-stage interview with her at the Alley Theatre Monday night, I dove into her latest book, Committed.

After the first few chapters, I wanted to hug the woman for her intelligent insights and formidable writing. And, now, I'm back-peddling to catch up with her first big literary hit.

For Gilbert's reading of Committed, a sell-out crowd, comprised primarily of ardent female fans of Eat, Pray, Love, packed the Alley's main theater.

It was more than midway through her western U.S. book tour with Viking Press. But the Alley stopover was different from typical book tours. Houston-based Apache Corp. underwrote the presentation, the purchase of more than 800 books and the $1,000 a head dinner that preceded Gilbert's on-stage appearance. The evening benefited the Ucross Foundation, a 21,000-acre artist's retreat in Wyoming, where Gilbert wrote her first non-fiction book, The Last American Man.

The connection: Ucross was established by Apache founder Raymond Plank in 1981.

Just as fans might guess from reading either of her two most recent books, Gilbert was unassuming, witty and intelligent. Very early in the evening, she easily wooed those at the dinner with her straight-forward manner. Wearing little if any make-up, a modest brown dress, gray sweater, brown tights and low-heeled boots, Gilbert had only two adornments — a fetching amber necklace and her simple gold wedding band. A telling statement in itself from the woman who had sworn off of marriage for life.

Clearly a woman who has dined with fans more than once, Gilbert asked everyone at each table that she visited during her personal round-robin dinner to share where they would go and what they would do if they had a year without limitations to pursue their dreams. This interesting move allowed her to eat while others talked and provided for good conversation. But then the tables were turned and she was asked for her choice — a year in Paris was the answer.

With the audience of more than 800, Gilbert was equally at ease and entertaining, winning the crowd with the story of how Committed came into being and then reading a generous number of compelling passages from the book.

In the Q&A that followed, queries sent in by email over the weekend, Gilbert revealed that married life is great. That she and her husband today live in a small town in New Jersey on the banks of the Delaware River, where he runs a specialty shop of finds from around the world. That she is taking her writing at a measured pace these days and while she does have an idea for her next book, she hasn't quite begun in earnest.

Writing a book, she said, is not like giving birth as some authors have suggested. Rather, the book gives birth to the writer, at least in Gilbert's case, opening the writer to new levels of awareness and understanding.

When the interview concluded to rounds and rounds of applause for the author, Gilbert stood and hugged me. The perfect ending to a perfectly wonderful night on stage.

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Buc-ee's news

Buc-ee’s draws ire in Ohio for launching fight over mini mart beaver logo

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Buc-ee's aggressively protects its beaver logo.

BEAVERCREEK, Ohio (AP) — A lip-licking alligator, a smiling moose and a hat-wearing bear are among the many cartoon animals to have found themselves in the crosshairs of Buc-ee’s, the popular Texas convenience store chain that has a penchant for protecting its buck-toothed beaver.

But now Buc-ee's has set off a Buckeye backlash across Ohio and beyond after taking on a beaver in the city of Beavercreek.

It's yet another Buc-ee’s Ltd. trademark infringement lawsuit. Supporters of Beaver’s Mini Mart have attacked Buc-ee’s online and boycotted the stores, and the mini mart's home city passed a resolution making the beaver an official part of its history. British comedian John Oliver has even weighed in on the kerfuffle.

On an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, the comedian detailed Buc-ee’s aggressive history of trademark lawsuits targeting various woodland creatures and launched a website hawking merchandise bearing a knockoff “Buc-off” logo and a squirrel mascot named Mr. Nutterbutter. On X, #boycottbucees trended.

Buc-ee’s sued Beaver’s Mini Mart in late July, four months after the chain known for its extensive food offerings and massive restrooms opened its first Ohio store less than a half-hour’s drive away.

Buc-ee’s argues the shop’s beaver logo too closely resembles the convenience store giant’s branded Buc-ee (“Bucky”) beaver. The Texas-based company asked for a jury trial in federal court in Ohio.

Buc-ee's claims
Beaver’s Mini Mart occupies a long, low building with a shingle roof at a suburban intersection. In contrast, the new 74,000-square-foot (6,875-square-meter) Buc-ee’s off Interstate 70 near Dayton has more than 100 gas pumps, 24 electric vehicle chargers, and 700 parking spaces. A second Ohio store has been approved to open in 2028.

While preparing to enter the state in February, Buc-ee’s sued the northern Ohio holding company for Mickey Mart gas stations, arguing its Mickey the Moose logo could be confused with Buc-ee. (The company’s response: “A moose is not a beaver.”)

The Buc-ee’s beaver logo features the face of a beaver with prominent buck teeth wearing a red ball cap against a yellow backdrop. The Beaver’s Mini Mart mascot is a full beaver, unclothed, waving and smiling against a white background.

Customers have been critical of Buc-ee's decision to target the much smaller store.

“I love Buc-ee's, but I don't plan on going back until they start making better business decisions,” Austin Collins, 32, a project manager from Fairborn, said outside Beaver's, where he was making his first visit to protest the lawsuit.

He called targeting a beaver-named business in Beavercreek “a little spiteful.” License plates from three states were visible in the parking lot.

Buc-ee's has defended the lawsuit as protective of its valuable trademark. In a statement on its website, the company said it first learned of Beaver's Mini Mart when its owner, Vic Boparai, filed a trade name registration on October 23.

The small business, incorporated in 2017, changed its name from Hanes Road Carryout to Beaver’s Mini Mart in January 2025, according to the paperwork. That was about four months after Buc-ee's broke ground near Dayton. Recognizing a conflict, the company said it repeatedly attempted to reach Boparai without success, so it was forced to sue.

Boparai has since issued a statement of his own, though without addressing the company's concerns nor the merits of the lawsuit.

“We want to say thank you to the community and the entire country for supporting us and our business,” he said. “We are overwhelmed by your support for our business and other small businesses everywhere.”

The Associated Press has been unable to reach Boparai at Beaver’s Mini Mart or by calling the store.

Part of city history
Beavercreek City Council responded to the dust-up by passing a resolution August 10 making the beaver a permanent and official part of its 200-plus-year history. Bucky the Beaver, mascot of the Beavercreek Local Schools, visited the meeting ahead of the unanimous vote.

On social media, images lampooning the fight are rampant. One showed the Ohio State University football mascot, Brutus Buckeye, tackling Buc-ee the beaver.

Support has taken other forms, too. One was a GoFundMe campaign aimed at assuring that costs associated with the lawsuit don't put Beaver's Mini Mart out of business, as has happened to other establishments Buc-ee's sued. It had raised at least $69,000.

The mini mart gave permission to The Original Goodie Shop bakery in Upper Arlington to use its logo on a signature cookie, with $1 from each one sold going to support Beaver's legal fees. Cake, Hope & Love, a Beavercreek bakery, also is offering cookies adorned with buck-toothed beavers that urge shopping local.

Other Dayton-area businesses — including a Lego store and a root beer shop — temporarily altered their logos to include beavers in a show of solidarity. Dozens of businesses in Beavercreek already incorporate the city name or word beaver in their names.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who attended and praised the grand opening of the Dayton-area Buc-ee’s store in April, described the lawsuit as “absurd.”

“It is Beavercreek, for heaven’s sake,” the governor told reporters.

buc-ee's lawsuit