WORDS AND IMAGES : Name Dropper : Best-selling author Lawrence Block will be at the Ventura Bookstore to sign, ‘A Walk Among the Tombstones.’

Lawrence Block, a very successful, best-selling author, is coming to the Ventura Bookstore to autograph his latest mystery, “A Walk Among the Tombstones.”

Why should we care? Let me count the reasons. For those of us who yearn for a gentle ambience, what better place is there than a bookstore? We find common ground even in disagreement because the very atmosphere is both calm and stimulating.

And writers never pass up an opportunity to talk to a successful, prolific author. You can ask him about his work habits, who his agent is, how he works with editors, what was his first sale.

Block also wrote advice columns for 13 years for Writer’s Digest magazine. These were collected and published in two books, “Spider Spin Me a Web” and “Telling Lies for Fun and Profit.”

“Tombstone” is Block’s 10th novel featuring private eye Matthew Scudder, a brooding, morally pragmatic hero (and recovered alcoholic) who works the streets of New York. His previous novel “A Dance at the Slaughterhouse” won an Edgar. Block has also been honored with the Shamus, Nero Wolfe and Maltese Falcon awards. The event is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday in the Ventura Bookstore, 522 E. Main St.

*

It’s Baseball, Sports Card & Comic Book Exchange again at 4:30 p.m. today in the Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 E. Janss Road. This is a trading only event (no cash sales) for 8- to 16-year-olds. Call 497-6282 for more information.

*

The Classic Cinema series will screen Maya Deren’s collection of experimental feminist films made between 1942 and 1945 at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Thousand Oaks Library. Refreshments and discussion will follow the screening. A $2 donation is requested. Call 495-1392.

*

Jackson Wheeler and Vincent Mowrey will read at the Simi Valley Poetry Series at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Simi Valley Library, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road. Wheeler, often referred to as the poet laureate of Ventura County, is published in numerous national magazines and anthologies. Mowrey’s poems have appeared in many local publications. Sign-ups for open readings are at 7:15 p.m. Call 527-5534.

*

Explorer Rudi Thurau’s journey down one of the world’s great rivers is depicted in his film “Rhine River Adventure,” which will screen at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the Oxnard Civic Auditorium, 800 Hobson Way. Thurau will narrate the full-length color film. Tickets are $6.50. Call 486-2424.

*

“High Hopes,” made in England in 1989, is the Ojai Film Society’s offering at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the Ojai Playhouse, 145 E. Ojai Ave. “The movie is a stunning exploration of the English working class directed by the gifted Mike Leigh,” one critic said.

*

Cat lovers, visit the Oxnard Library, 251 South A St. and catch the wonderful display of books about cats. The library is also showcasing award-winning children’s books in honor of Children’s Book Week, which concludes Saturday.