Author Francess Lantz organized one such meeting at the Dedham Public Library in late 1978. While she recalls a poor turnout - maybe five children in total - Bellairs was a "kind, shy and self-effacing" speaker, reading sections of his books in a chair in front of the fireplace with the children gathered around him. Lantz also recalls Bellairs bringing in props, objects he used in the stories - "like a stone or a jewel inside a little box" - to prompt questions from his young audience.

"I can still see him sitting there, showing the kids the objects he had," Lantz recalls. "He wasn't cracking jokes, nor was he being super serious or self-important. Just kind of quiet but interesting." In a letter to Lantz, Bellairs notes his standard fee for such visitations was $25 to cover gas and being away from work. "I don't think that's terribly high," Bellairs writes, "considering what some of my fellow authors ask." Bellairs also writes that while he once spoke to 400 children in an auditorium, his preferred amount was around fifty so that everyone in attendance had the opportunity to ask a question.

Elizabeth Thomsen relates that Bellairs' presentations were so popular that at one school he gave out his home telephone number to the students that had additional questions. "My older daughter heard his presentation, which was fine for her, but terrible for my younger daughter, Kristin, who really loved his books. When I came home from work, I walked in and heard Kristin on the phone, asking politely if she could speak to John Bellairs. Had I been there a minute earlier, I would have stopped her from disturbing him at home at suppertime on a day he had spent in our schools. She explained to him how disappointed she had been to miss him when he was at her school, and they had a nice chat...despite the fact that the poor guy had already spent the whole day doing this stuff. Kristin had a chance to ask her most important question, 'Why do you write such scary stories for kids?' and he told her how things had scared him as a kid. It was a lovely conversation, and she's never forgotten it. This phone conversation meant a great deal to her, and when he died she really felt like she had lost a personal friend. I never met John Bellairs, but I'll always think of him as a most kind and gracious man that really cared about kids."

Those that couldn't meet John in person had the opportunity to share their thoughts via fan mail - something John adored. Some were simple letters in admiration, while other drew pictures of his characters and stories. John revealed in a 1983 autobiographical sketch that he had received "fan letters from kids in forty states and Canada" and that some of his gifts from readers have included “a piece of mica, a sports quiz game, and a purple wooden fish." The children's drawings he collected went on full display in his house; longtime friend Gerald Kadish remembers John proudly showing off some of these above his desk and pointing them out to friends. John also made an effort to respond to all his mail, often postcard sized thank you notes written in his distinct scrawled handwriting and, sometimes, with one of his personalized cartoons.

Bellairs also visited area colleges to share some of his experiences and offer his views on writing and the publishing process. Former Salem State College student Maura Bresnahan remembers Bellairs as a speaker in a graduate-level children's literature course during the fall of 1990. Bresnahan says Bellairs discussed the settings in his novels, particularly how the White Mountains had inspired the Johnny Dixon series.

"The funniest thing was that I ended up giving him a lift home because I lived the nearest to him from the college which was about a 45 minute ride away. I remember him dressed in overalls and blowing his nose on a red bandana; he did not bother primping for his visit. As the years have passed I only have vague memories of his visit though I did find him very charming."

Bellairs also gave some of his time to speaking at science fiction and fantasy conferences. In the early 1980s he was a speaker at two Boskone conferences, a regional Science Fiction convention held in Boston.

In 1987, the Mythopoeic Society honored Bellairs by naming him a guest of honor at their annual Mythcon conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Author Wayne Hammond was on hand and remembers that while Bellairs was welcomed and enjoyed by all, he had to compete for time against Christopher Tolkien, in attendance to mark the fiftieth anniversary of The Hobbit. Georgie Schnobrich, Peter S. Beagle, and John D. Rateliff presented "The Oeuvre of John Bellairs," a panel discussion of his work, and Bellairs later discussed and read from his books for what Hammond described as "a very entertaining hour." John also sat in and listened to some of the conferences; Hammond says most of the time, though, Bellairs hung out with Peter Beagle. He recalls hearing they were often found frequenting an old-fashioned diner-type eatery in near Marquette University when not at the discussion.

The 1987 conference was also the debut The Not-Ready-for-Mythcon Players, a group of society members who would in the subsequent years act out scenes from the writings of that year’s honoree. Eleanor M. Farrell, writing in 2003, explains that the tradition started with what was probably the first – and only – stage adaptation of Bellairs’ work: “Debby Jones and I decided to stage a condensed version of [The Pedant and the Shuffly]..... In this tale, an unpleasant wizard (the Pedant) changes people he doesn't like into creatures called "Flimsies" -- which look like dinner napkins soiled with gravy and cranberry sauce. Not having such condiments available in the Marquette cafeteria, we covered Eric Rauscher and Sherwood Smith with sheets coated with chocolate sauce and cherry jam, and put on our little play. Bellairs professed himself charmed, and gave me his permission to distribute Xerox copies of his story.”