Today in honor of National “Read Across America” Day we are spotlighting a book by a St. Louis author.
Patrick Murphy who you might know from his many years playing records on KEZK and other radio stations and then on KETC Channel Nine, PBS has put together a fun book on the 1904 World’s Fair.
No single event in the history of St. Louis shines as brightly as the 1904 World’s Fair. Forest Park was transformed into a magnificent Ivory City of immense palaces and dramatic vistas. Cascades and fountains splashed and bubbled. Giant engines hummed, powering a million electric lights. Twenty million visitors passed through its gates to witness wonderous displays of the technological achievements of humankind.
In this spectacular volume, Patrick Murphy takes us beyond the sights and sounds of the Fair into the minds of those who were there. His stories are those of a generation standing on the brink of a new century, with a sense of wonder and optimism. Murphy helps us appreciate how the Fair was a product of its time both in noble aspirations and base prejudices. Exhibits featuring flying machines, automobiles, enormous turbines, and wireless telegraphy stood beside “villages” displaying Indigenous people as if they were in a zoo.
Murphy’s storytelling takes the reader to the heart of the Fair, amid its sights, sounds, and smells. We’re part of the crowd. If the past is a different country, Prelude to a Century is the perfect traveler’s guide to a monumental event that continues to resonate with history lovers.
“Prelude to a Century: The 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair “is available wherever books are sold beginning March 18.
BOOK DETAILS
Prelude to a Century: The 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, by Patrick Murphy ISBN: 9781681065328
Hardcover, 11 x 9
192 pages
$42.00
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As a television producer, Patrick Murphy has earned six Emmys for his public television documentaries on the history and culture of the American heartland. He is the author of Candy Men: The Story of Switzer’s Licorice, The Irish in St Louis: From Shanty to Lace Curtain, and Places to Pray: Holy Sites in Catholic Missouri.
BOOK LAUNCH & SIGNINGS
Thursday, April 11 – Book Launch at the Missouri History Museum,
Saturday, April 13 from 1 – 3 p.m.
Webster Books, 27 N. Gore, Webster Groves, MO 63119, (314) 968-1185, Free and open to the public
Sunday, April 14 from 1 – 3 p.m.
Main Street Books, 307 S Main St, St Charles, MO 63301, (636) 949-0105, Free and open to the public
Friday, April 26 from 5 – 7 p.m.
Washington Missouri Library , 410 Lafayette St, Washington, MO 6309 (636) 390-1070 Free and open to the public
Saturday, April 27 from 12 – 2 p.m.
Kerry Cottage, 113 N Kirkwood Rd, Kirkwood, MO 63122, (314) 394-0331, Free and open to the public
Sunday, April 28 from 3 – 6 p.m.
Campbell House, 1508 Locust St, St. Louis, MO 63103, (314) 421-0325 Free and open to the public
