Peace to the Bookfest for giving props to Sir Mix-A-Lot. Yes, he hasn't written a book; yes, he is a rapper who has sold millions of records; yes, "Baby Got Back" is not a work of literary art. But that's not the point. The point is, can the Bookfest keep us guessing? Can they surprise us? For example, Charles Johnson, the author of the literary masterpiece Middle Passage, is not out of place in the noble atmosphere of the Bookfest. Whatever he says during his panel will be in harmony with his surroundings.

Sir Mix-A-Lot, on the other hand, is a complete mystery. What in the world will he say? Will it be appropriate? Or will he suddenly amaze us with a never before displayed command of Elizabethan theater and poetry? His name is, after all, Sir Mix-A-Lot, and I recall him performing in a mid-'80s electro-funk song called "We Are the Knights," which was rich with medieval imagery. (I have tried to verify this without success, but my memory tells me that he was in the song, which had two DJs competing as if they were lancers on armored horses--it was very imaginative.)

Whatever happens at Bookfest, one thing is for sure: Sir Mix-A-Lot was the first (and to this day, only) rapper to put Seattle on the pop culture map in a serious way. Indeed, while visiting Stockholm back in 1988, I first heard of Broadway when a friend of mine--a handsome, blue-eyed Swedish teen--played it for me in his bedroom. "Is this New York?" I asked him, as he nodded his blond head to the beat. "No, man," he answered. "This is another Broadway. It's in Seattle."

Sir Mix-A-Lot participates in a discussion of "Music as a Movement," Sat Oct 19, 2:40 pm-3:40 pm, at the Word (of Mouth) Stage; he also participates in the Songwriting Workshop, Sat Oct 19, 3:45 pm-4:15 pm, at the Word (of Mouth) Stage.