“On Being Fabulous”: A Virtual Conversation with Jonathan Van Ness and Kristi Yamaguchi, May 17

Wednesday, May 17, 7 p.m.

Presented by the Rock Island and Moline Public Libraries

An eagerly awaited virtual conversation between an Emmy-nominated Queer Eye star and an Olympic gold medalist, On Being Fabulous with Jonathan Van Ness and his idol Kristi Yamaguchi will be presented on May 17 by the Rock Island and Moline Public Libraries, an event in which the talk will turn toward "figure skating, fabulous style, and whatever else comes up."

A 36-year-old native of Quincy, Illinois, Van Ness is a hairstylist, podcast host and television personality best known as the grooming expert on Netflix's popular series Queer Eye, and also highly regarded for his work on the Web parody Gay of Thrones and for hosting the Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness podcast. The recipient of two Emmy Award nods for Gay of Thrones and three for Queer Eye, the celebrity's memoir Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love was published in October of 2019, with Van Ness discussing his past (including his former drug addiction and HIV-positive status) and how it helped sculpt his future. The book made him a 2019 winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Memoir and Autobiography, and the following year, Van Ness released a picture book titled Peanut Goes for the Gold, which tells the story of a nonbinary guinea pig named Peanut – inspired by the author's own childhood pet – and their adventures as a rhythmic gymnastics prodigy. Also in 2019, Van Ness won the iHeartRadio Podcast Award for Best LGBTQ Podcast for Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, as well as a Critics Choice Award for Male Star of the Year. Meanwhile, in 2022, Van Ness continued his work as an author with his essay collection Love That Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life.

Figure-skating sensation Yamaguchi, a former competitor in women's singles, is the 1992 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion, and the 1992 U.S. champion. In 1992, she became the first Asian American to win a gold medal in a Winter Olympic competition, and as a pairs skater with Rudy Galindo, she was also the 1988 World Junior champion and two-time national champion. After Yamaguchi retired from competition in 1992, she performed in shows and participated in the professional competition circuit. She won the World Professional Figure Skating Championships four times in her career, and in 2005, Yamaguchi was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, also becoming the celebrity champion of Dancing with the Stars in 2008. Now 51, Yamaguchi is an author and has published five books. with Dream Big, Little Pig, for which she received the Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award, appearing on the New York Times Best Seller list.

Van Ness' and Yamaguchi's virtual conversation is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act.

On Being Fabulous with Jonathan Van Ness and Kristi Yamaguchi will be presented virtually on May 17, participation in the 7 p.m. Conversation is free, and more information is available by calling (309)732-7323 and visiting RockIslandLibrary.org, or calling (309)524-02470 and visiting MolineLibrary.com.