Junk is beautiful. And so is the new book, American Pickers Guide to Picking, written by Libby Callaway with Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz, and Danielle Colby, the stars of one of my favorite TV shows, American Pickers, which comes on Monday nights on the History Channel. Libby, a freelance writer with publication credits that include the New York Post, where she worked as a writer and editor, and Glamour, where she penned a fashion advice column, is also a native of Cleveland, TN, which is home to my mom, Faye Bailey, and my sister Leanne Benson and family. A little over 30 years ago, my late dad, Don Bailey, a native of Athens, Georgia, reported to the Cleveland, TN post office to take over as postmaster. The retiring postmaster my dad replaced was Libby’s granddad, Robert Easterly.

Libby Callaway

Recently, I got to hear Libby and Mike Wolfe talk about their new book, American Pickers Guide to Picking, published in September 2011 by Hyperion. The crowd at the Cleveland, TN museum topped 300 as Libby spoke first, acknowledging over two rows of Callaways and Easterlys in the audience. She told us how she met Mike Wolfe about four years ago at a photo shoot and  how she found herself really intrigued by what he did for a living.

Libby had been buying and selling antiques and collectibles since she as a little girl. “I learned the business from my mom who had a business, The Callaway Collection, many years ago in Cleveland,” she explained. By the age of five or six, Libby wandered flea markets and antique malls by herself, searching for treasures to resell. After receiving a master’s degree in Cultural Reporting and Criticism from New York University, Libby embarked on a career in journalism. But she never totally stopped picking and collecting, and eventually, that’s how she became friends with Mike Wolfe.

Mike Wolfe also started picking as a child. He was in kindergarten when an old bike caught his eye one day while on his way to school. After buying the bike, taking it home, and fixing up, Mike was hooked. His mom allowed him to use their garage for his new found hobby and he was soon on his way to his lifelong profession.

“I make my living buying and selling, but I don’t consider picking a job at all,” Mike told the audience. “It’s a fascinating journey. When I knock on a door and someone opens it, we already have a connection, the universal language of junk.”

Mike and Frank buy 1000s of items that aren’t shown on the show. “We just don’t have time to show all the picks,” Mike says. He and Frank help the show’s producers select the picked items for each show that are most interesting and important for viewers to see.

“I find it more difficult to find things in the South,” Mike admits. “But there’s stuff everywhere. Pick-wise though, I’ve made my living for the past few years mainly on the East coast.”

Still, Mike does like the South. He has a shop in Nashville and also has a “little house” outside Nashville that he shares with his girlfriend who is expecting a “little picker,” soon.

Mike Wolf and Libby Callaway at Cleveland TN Museum

Mike received many questions from young pickers at his Cleveland museum talk and says there is a “Kid Picker” show in the works. The current American Pickers show was the most successful reality show introduced on TV in 2010. I’m sure, judging from all the excited junior pickers at the museum, a young picker show would be a big hit.

Mike also talked about his partner in rusty gold on the show, Frank Fritz and their assistant, Danielle Colby. Frank joined Mike as a full time picker after being downsized from a long time job. Mike met Danielle at a yard sale several years ago when he bought something she had her eye on. Their disagreement quickly turned to friendship and when Mike succeeded in selling the American Pickers show to the History channel and needed an assistant to run the shop and help scout out picks, he thought of Danielle. Producers at first weren’t enthusiastic about the tattooed burlesque dancer. But after seeing her and watching her interact with Mike and Frank, they quickly agreed that she was a perfect addition to the show.

“If you can think of a purpose for something, it’s not junk,” Mike said, near the end of his talk. “It becomes a part of you.”

Mike’s show has already become a part of our family on Monday nights. His book is now in a treasured place on our bookshelf and we’re savoring every page of reading about hunting and picking “rusty gold.” Coming soon: a full review of American Pickers Guide to Picking, if I can stop picking long enough to write it!

For more information on the American Pickers show, go here. To read more about Libby Callaway and her new book, visit her website.