North Branch Library Book Signing/Discussion July 20, 2013

Thank you Friends of the North Branch Library for inviting us to your event on Saturday!  We shared TIMBER with the audience and appreciated the questions and comments.  Another author, Bud Hoekstra was also sharing his book The Life and Times of a Railroad Engineer.  Sounds like a good read for those interested in hearing stories about working on the railroad.  Trains are a huge part of our country's history.  The Friends felt having our book paired with a book about trains would be an interesting and appropriate pairing because of the role the train played in saving lives in The Great Hinckley Fire. 

Not only are there lots of interesting stories to read, there also seems to be some brave and heroic folks that have worked for the railroads.  In the case of the Great Hinckley Fire, several engineers including James Root and William Best performed strategically and bravely to save hundreds from the fire storm.  Depot agent Thomas Dunn lost his life heroically transmitting the catastrophe.  Porter John Blair repeatedly went to collect and save many children from the fire ignoring the danger to himself.  There are many wonderful survivor and hero stories I will strive to share in future posts.  Many of the people we meet at book events tell us they had relatives who survived--amazing.  We're coming up to the anniversary of the fire September 1, 1894.

Thursday, July 25 we're in Duluth for a book signing at The Bookstore at Fitgers.  Stop and see us if you're able; we're excited to be there!