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May
2007
May
1 * Guest
Speaker- North Park Library, Evansville, IN
I
wish every appearance could be as relaxed and easy going as
my visit to the North Park Library. Michael Campese invited
be to come and share my thoughts on Thunder with his reading group. Michael is the
librarian at North Park Public Library. The reading group
would spend the month reading my book and then I would come
in and talk and answer questions. You can tell Michael
loves books and reading and he really cares about his book
club. Michael approached me about appearing at North Park
last year and I am very glad that I was able to come.
I've done a
number of library programs and you never know what to
expect. This was probably the library program where I had
the most fun. Michael offered me a nice rocking chair from
which to sit and talk to everyone and for some reason it
just set a wonderfully comfortable tone to the entire
evening. I felt like I was at home just talking to friends
about Adam Johnson in my living room. I starting talking
about how the book got going and touched on some of the
dramatic events leading up to the raid. I wanted to share a
few things about Adam Johnson's post-Civil War career and
had a great time going over some of the incredible
adventures in his latter life. I sold a good number of
books and everyone seemed to have enjoyed what I had to
say.
My special thanks
and congratulation to Michael Campese who received a phone
call in the middle of my presentation announcing the birth
of his new grand-baby. Thanks Mike and good luck!!
May
8 * Guest
Speaker- PEO Group, Holiday Retirement Village, Evansville,
IN
I
was invited to speak to the PEO Group more than a year ago
and I have to tell you that there was more than a little
mystery to it. The PEO Group is a women's philanthropic
organization. I could never quit find out what PEO meant,
but I had a great time speaking to the gathered members.
There were maybe 20 members who sat around a long
rectangular table. First, we shared a dessert-type dish and
then I got up an spoke for maybe 20 minutes. It seemed like
just a flickering moment and it was gone. Everyone was very
kind and welcoming and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The
profits from books sold at the PEO appearance will be
donated to the PEO who in turn will donate the money to a
college they support. My sincere thanks for the invitation
and I wish PEO the best of luck in their future endeavors.
May
12 * Guest
Speaker- McHenry County, Illinois, 9th Annual Civil War
Symposium
Yours truly at the 9th Annual McHenry County Civil War
Symposium
After the Decatur, Illinois, Symposium
last year the show bookseller, Robert Murphy, recommended
that I look into the McHenry County Symposium outside
Chicago. I contacted Ed Urban and Ed agreed to have me on
the schedule as one of four presenters for 2007. I am
extremely glad I went as I had a great time and it was a
very welcoming crowd.
I flew up to
O'Hare Airport on Friday night before the presentation.
Everything went well on the flight, but Friday traffic
leaving Chicago was very heavy. Even on Route 90 headed
west traffic was 35 miles an hour all the way. I wasn't
expecting a 90 minute car ride after arriving in Chicago,
but I guess I should have. I ate a little something and
then went to bed early. I woke up about 5AM and just stayed
in bed thinking about Adam Johnson and the speech I was
getting ready to give. Going through his incredible life.
I arrived at the
venue early and started talking to folks, getting ideas
about what to focus on in my talk. Soon I was selling some
books. I was on the agenda first because I had to catch a
plane back on Saturday. As usual, the speech was over all
too quickly. I think things went well. Everyone seemed to
like it. I had a great lunch and drove back to the airport.
The flight back was uneventful.
My thanks to Ed
Urban for the great time I had at the Symposium.
.
Yours truly taking a question after my May 12
presentation
May
19 * Book
Vendor- 2nd Annual Newburgh, Indiana Winefest
My
last entry in a long May. I wanted to do one last
appearance at Newburgh before moving on to my next project.
I wanted to spend the day selling books on behalf of the
Newburgh Scholarship fund and my May 19 appearance was a
great success. Frank Hijuelos took me under his wing and
set me up with a prime spot in the Historic Newburgh Inc
booth. I spent the whole day glued to my post and wound up
selling a very nice load of books. The weather could not
have been better for an outdoor event. It was a long,
beautiful, tiring day for me. Another great
memory.
