If Marcia Evers Levy were to write a memoir based on her tenure as director of the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival, her reminiscences would be just as remarkable as those of the many authors she brought to town over the past 15 years. Evers Levy resigned from her position late last year; a replacement is being sought.

“Picking one favorite is like choosing your favorite child,” she says when asked which celebrity author was the most memorable.

Then again, she only has one child (a daughter, Hayley, who will graduate from Washington University in May). So I press on.

The late Peter Falk then quickly comes to mind. “He was such a character and he told such great stories,” Evers Levy recalls over morning coffee. “He must have called five times in a day to ask me questions. He was exactly like his (rumpled ‘Columbo’) character, wanting to know just one more thing. He’d call and say (imitating his deep, raspy voice), ‘Hey, kid, it’s me. Are we set to go?’ Then he’d call and say, ‘Hey, cookie, sorry to bother you,’ and ask me something else.” 

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She describes Leonard Nimoy, who came to the festival twice, as “awe-inspiring.” She remembers the diminutive Dr. Ruth Westheimer, who appeared multiple times with multiple books, always requesting a “bar mitzvah box” to stand on. She regrets that Jon Stewart, who was set to speak at the festival in 1999, was one of the few who got away.

“His editor got into a fight with his publisher and quit,” she explains. “Jon was close to his editor, so he cancelled all the appearances his publisher had set up. Years later, I got to know his publicist and actually met Jon a number of times at publisher conventions. He apologized for cancelling, but I could never get him to come with any of his other books.”

The inimitable Goldie Hawn, says Evers Levy, was the consummate businesswoman and not at all ditzy in real life. “But when it was time for Goldie to walk on stage,” she says, “she tussled her blond hair, giggled and became Goldie. It was fascinating to watch the transformation.”

Hawn’s appearance as the festival’s silver anniversary keynote speaker attracted the largest audience in its 35-year history, with roughly 2,000 showing up. It almost didn’t happen. Two days before Hawn was scheduled to come, she pulled out. She had a sinus infection and couldn’t fly.

“I spent a long time on the phone with her team pleading, begging, whining, cajoling, whatever it would take to reschedule the visit in the immediate future,” Evers Levy says. “And she did so, coming the following weekend, for which I was personally so grateful.

“I’ve been lucky — I’ve had authors cancel, but no keynotes,” she adds. 

Of course, putting a book festival together, especially this one, which under Evers Levy’s direction has become the largest in the country, is much more than attracting a big-name celebrity keynote speaker. What started as eight authors in seven days now flourishes over two full weeks in November, jam-packed day and night with dozens of visiting authors from all over the world, along with concerts and, more recently, a dance performance. In addition, other events related to the festival take place throughout the year. 

Evers Levy says she doesn’t know any sure-fire formula to ensure a successful book festival. Reading as much as possible, talking to people about what they are reading, networking and attending events that bring Jewish authors together are all integral to the process. But those who have worked with her say the fact that she was fully invested and savantlike in finding and cultivating up-and-coming authors definitely contributed to her success.

“Jewish books are Marcia’s passion. She didn’t separate them from the rest of her life, they are a huge part of her life, and that propelled her,” says Carolyn Starman Hessel, director of the Jewish Book Council, a New York-based organization that promotes hundreds of authors to Jewish book programs around the country.

Evers Levy has been Pam Morton’s mentor since Morton took over the Jewish book festival in Atlanta two years ago. “When I first took the job, Marcia embraced me with open arms and nurtured me,” Morton says. 

“She’s a programming genius. It’s one thing to bring authors in and have them read from their book or give a rote speech. Marcia has always taken it 10 steps further, be it a crafting a session around a theme like a women’s night out or knowing how to build partnerships within the community.”

Evers Levy says she enjoys making shidduchs (partnerships) among authors when putting together book panels. It’s not unusual for these authors, when traveling to other festivals, to tell directors there that they had been paired with so-and-so in St. Louis and it worked really well.

“Marcia has a knack for that, plus she always was so warm and delightful and welcoming,” says author Randy Susan Meyers, who has come to the St. Louis festival twice in recent years. “After my first time in St. Louis, I couldn’t wait to come back. Marcia encouraged me to email her about books I thought she would enjoy.

“When I came back (in 2013), she went out of her way to make sure I could attend some great events, such as the Harvey Fierstein talk.”

But no festival, maintains Evers Levy, at least none the size and scope of St. Louis, can succeed without an army of volunteers. Perhaps her proudest accomplishment is that the St. Louis festival now boasts more than 120 committee members, many of whom work from February through October to make sure the November event runs seamlessly. 

“The festival would not happen without the volunteers, period,” says Evers Levy. “The time, talent and heart they put into it is amazing and frankly, so is the faith they’ve had in me over the years.

“Four days into (the 2012) festival my husband fell and fractured his hip. He was hospitalized and had to have surgery. I was away from the festival 75 to 80 percent of the time. If it weren’t for (co-chairs) Kitty Gross, Ann Spector and Gail Feldstein and all the other volunteers, the 2012 festival wouldn’t have happened. I can’t thank them enough.”

Although neither Evers Levy nor her former boss, Jewish Community Center CEO Lynn Wittels, would discuss the festival’s financials, both say it’s a winner, especially for the community. Wittels also praises Evers Levy’s work, saying, “She is incredibly talented and brought a lot of her personality to the festival. . . . We certainly have big shoes to fill and I am encouraged we will be able to do that.” Wittels hopes to have a new festival director by the end of the month.

As for Evers Levy, she describes her departure as bittersweet. “The festival has been like my child,” she says, “but like with your child, you grow them, you nurture them, you give them everything they need and then, at a certain point, you let them go. It’s time for me to look for new challenges and new experiences.”

And her advice to the festival’s next director: “Be open to ideas. You never know where a great idea to enhance the festival will come from.”

In other words, don’t judge a book by its cover.