From the Harford County Public Library:
Meet Earl Swift, author of The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways, at the Jarrettsville Library on April 13th. Presented by the Harford County Public Library Foundation, A Night Out @ the Library is part of a three day event this year that includes a juried art exhibition and car show.
The Big Roads tells the story of the man-made wonder, the connective network, and the economic force of America’s highways. A cause of blight and sprawl but also offering the possibility of escape, the U.S. interstate system transformed America. Swift tells the story of how America went from dirt tracks to expressways in the span of one lifetime! Kirkus Reviews writes “the book is a road geek’s treasure — and everyone who travels the highways ought to know these stories.”
“A joy ride,” states Bill Morris, author of Motor City. “Earl Swift has written the best kind of popular history – one that paints vivid portraits, debunks myths, and brings to life the fascinating and appalling stories behind the creation of that massive mixed blessing known as America’s interstate highways.”
Earl Swift has been writing for a living since he was a teen and has a lengthy resume including being a Fulbright fellow, PEN finalist and five-time Pulitzer Prize nominee. Swift has earned a reputation for his powerful narrative and scrupulous reporting. An avid outdoorsman, Swift has through-hiked the Appalachian Trail, circumnavigated the Chesapeake Bay by sea kayak, and traveled the 435-mile length of the James River by canoe.
Swift is also the author of Journey on the James: Three Weeks Through the Heart of Virginia, the story of a great American river and the largely untold history that has unfolded in and around it; and Where They Lay: Searching for America’s Lost Soldiers, for which he accompanied an Army archaeological team into the jungles of Laos in search of a helicopter crew shot down thirty years before. Swift has written for newspapers in St. Louis, Anchorage and for the last twenty-two years in Norfolk, where his long-form features have won numerous state and national awards. His stories have also appeared in PARADE and Popular Mechanics.
Tickets for this event are $30 general admission and $50 for VIP which includes preferred seating and a private reception with Swift. To purchase tickets please go to HCPLonline.org or call 410 273 5600 x2259. The program runs from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm and includes lite fare, wine and beer.
As part of a three day “car” celebration dubbed For The Love Of The Car, and a prelude to the upcoming Smithsonian Journey Stories exhibition coming to the Abingdon Library on May 19th, the Library will also be hosting a juried car photography exhibition, CARS: A Harford County Love Affair. The exhibition opens on April 12th and runs through May 21st at the Jarrettsville Library.
The Romancing the Chrome Car Show will be held Saturday, April 14th at Jarrett’s Field in Jarrettsville from 10:00 am–3:00 pm. Presented in partnership with the Jarrettsville Lions Club, attendees will be spectator to an array of car categories including classic, antique, muscle, sport plus trucks, Jeeps, and exotics. In addition, cars with a “Journey Story” can enter to win the Journey’s Class. Event features live music and concessions. Prizes include $500 for Best in Show, $75 for each class, and trophies for the top 25 cars on the field.
Journey Stories is part of Museum on Main Street, collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and the Maryland Humanities Council and is presented in Harford County by Harford County Public Library and Harford County Department of Community Services.
The Harford County Public Library Foundation is a 501© 3 charitable organization established to raise funds to augment the financial resources of the Library and to promote awareness of Library services. For more information call 410 273 5601 x2283.
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