THURSDAY,FEBRUARY 6,2003
LAWRENCE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3
Authors come to discuss their literature
By Chris Wintering
cwintering@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Four authors are coming to Lawrence this month to discuss their literature. The Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St., and The Raven Bookstore, 8 E. 7th St., are co-sponsoring three of the authors.
The library usually has six to 10 authors visit each year to talk to the public about their work.
"We don't have as many authors come as I would like, so to have four in a month is very unusual," said Sandra Wiechert, community relations coordinator for the Lawrence Public Library. "I am excited to have them, but things are hectic around here this month."
Andro Linklater
4 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 8, in Lawrence Public Library Auditorium
Linklater is a British journalist who came to the United States and was interested in the ownership of land. He had questions about concepts like city blocks, squared-off farmlands and numbered highways. He researched and wrote Measuring America: How an Untamed Wilderness Shaped The United States and Fulfilled the Promise of Democracy to answer these questions.
"We are very excited to have Andro Linklater coming to the library," Wiechert said. "His presentations are not only interesting and accurate, but also humorous."
Jennifer Cain Bohrnstedt
7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 10, in Lawrence Public Library Auditorium
Bohrnstedt is an author and Civil War historian. She collected the wartime letters of a Union clerk, whose ability to write shorthand made him too valuable to risk in battle. Her book, While Father is Away: The Civil War Letters of William H. Bradbury, is a collection of those letters.
"Her book provides a window to family
life, official life and social history in Civil War times," Wiechert said. "We are delighted to have her."
Ann Hagedorn
7 p.m., Tuesday Feb. 27, in Lawrence Public Library Auditorium
Hagedorn moved from New York to Ripley, Ohio, to research and write about the history of the underground railroad.
"There were a number of descendants who still lived in the area that she talked to. It is a fascinating history that had been forgotten by many," Wiechert said.
Hagedorn's book, Beyond the River: The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad is about the Ripley Line, which guided hundreds of slaves to freedom.
Thomas Fox Averill
7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 24, at The Lawrence Arts Center
The book, set in a fictional Kansas City restaurant, uses food and cooking as a metaphor to tell the story of a man's life growing up in a family of cooks.
He is coming to Lawrence as a part of the Read Across Lawrence program. Wiechert said the program was in its fourth year and is a copy of a program that started in Seattle
"We basically encourage the whole town to read the same book and then discuss it with the author in a public and academic setting." Wiechert said.
Averill will be speaking at local high schools and will have a discussion about his experiences being a published Kansas author on Feb.27 at the Lawrence Public Library.
Wiechert said that in the past students and professors attended the author visits.
Averill is a professor at Washburn University. He wrote Secrets of the Tsil Cafe. - Edited by Melissa Hermreck
"We don't market heavily on campus, but we do encourage students and professors to come." Wiechert said.