Windber venue will host tribute to vampire author Anne Rice

Jun. 23—WINDBER — The life, literature and dolls of renowned author Anne Rice will be celebrated at the former American Renaissance Church in Windber.

The Anne Rice Tribute is scheduled to take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday with special guest Sue Quiroz, the writer's longtime assistant, scheduled to be in attendance.

Event organizer Blair Murphy has converted the building, located at Graham Avenue and 10th Street in Windber, into a Rice museum of sorts.

"It's kind of two-fold," Murphy said when discussing the tribute. "One, I think it will be fascinating to have a close peek into the Rice world and hear about inspirations and different things that went into Anne Rice's writing. But the second part, though, is I think it will bring some intrigue to this little town. Even people from the town will walk away saying, 'Wow, that's pretty neat. We're associated with a best-selling author and her stuff's right up the street.' "

Rice wrote about subjects ranging from gothic fiction to erotica to Christian literature, selling more than 100 million combined books. She was best known for The Vampire Chronicles, a collection of works that included "Interview with the Vampire," which became a major motion picture starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise.

Rice also collected dolls that she publicly displayed.

Quiroz took care of the dolls in the latter years of Rice's life and eventually wanted to find a new home for them. Murphy learned about Quiroz' mission and contacted her, which led to him getting around 300 of the dolls, by his estimation. They are now on display in the old American Renaissance Church.

Quiroz will provide information about the dolls during the tribute.

"I can give them some stories about the dolls," she said. "I still have my giant book of inventory for the dolls with the picture, and where we bought them, and how much they cost, that kind of stuff that I used to keep for Anne."

Admission cost to the event is $5.