Oct 1 at noon: Art of the Civil War

Kate Quinn will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, October 1 at noon to explore the important role that visual art played during the Civil War in her program, Poems Without Words. From painters, to illustrators for magazines and newspapers, to photographers documenting the carnage of the war, visual art of all kinds shaped public opinion and popular culture of the period. Examples of works by Eastman Johnson, Winslow Homer, Thomas Moran and others will be examined. Kate Quinn is a prolific researcher and writer, whose numerous Lunch With Books presentations, usually having to do with local history, have been very popular and well attended. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please visit ohiocountylibrary.org, call 304-232-0244, or visit facebook.com/lunchwithbooks for more information.

Step Into Stories Starts Tomorrow!

Enjoy the art of puppetry with the Ohio County Public Library's new family program, Step Into Stories, "Bringing Literature to Life" which starts tomorrow, Saturday September 21 with Stevens Puppets, featuring old world marionettes from Pittsburgh:

11 am-Beauty and the Beast

2 pm-Sleeping Beauty

Triumphantly celebrating their 75th year of producing unforgettable and one of a kind marionette productions for children of all ages. These marionettes were authentically created in the traditional old world style, specializing in classic children's literature, and classic fairy tales. All of the programs are intended for all age levels. All of the stories are educational and have a moral or life skill woven cleverly and discretely throughout. www.ohiocountylibrary.org

Sept. 24 at noon: Legendary Locals of Wheeling

New Book Honors Local Heroes

Legendary Locals of Wheeling pays homage to the remarkable people of the Upper Ohio Valley, celebrating the achievements of some of the region’s famous and unsung heroes, past and present.

Did you know that someone from Wheeling is known as the father of oral surgery? That another Wheelingite helped eliminate child labor from the glassmaking industry? That another is in the International Aerospace Hall of Fame? And that yet another is regarded as one of the greatest international opera sopranos of all time? Readers can find out about these amazing people and many more in a new book due from Arcadia Publishing in early September. Compiled by local authors Seán Duffy and Brent Carney in collaboration with numerous community members,

The authors and contributors will discuss the book at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, September 24 at noon. Copies will be available for purchase at the event, and several contributors will be present to sign the book.

Legendary Locals of Wheeling includes the big names readers will expect, such as Betty Zane, Lewis Wetzel, and Walter Reuther, but also includes less well-known people, whose contributions have been just as important. Featured locals come from all walks of life including music, art, sports, science, architecture, business, literature, military service, and public service. For every infamous personality like Big Bill Lias, Wheeling produced hundreds of heroic, admirable people like Augustus Pollack, Doc White, Rosemary Front, and Ann and Clyde Thomas.

Brent with Paul McGinnis.

The book includes war heroes like General William S. Rosecrans (who developed one of the most successful battlefield ambulances used in the Civil War while he was headquartered in Wheeling), Louis Bennett Jr. (honored for his WWI service in the British Royal Flying Corps with a stained glass window in London’s Westminster Abbey), and Paul McGinnis (one of the survivors of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in WWII). Also included are literary legends like Rebecca Harding Davis, Keite Maillard, and current West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman, music legends such as jazz great Chu Berry and country music stars Doc and Chickie Williams, as well as sports legends such as South Wheeling’s Rosie Gacioch (one of the greatest players in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League), John Glasscock (the first West Virginian to play major league baseball), Jesse Burkett (the first West Virginia native to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame) and football legend Chuck Howley.

Editors Seán Duffy and Brent Carney are both Wheeling natives. Duffy earned an MBA from Wheeling Jesuit University and a JD from the Washington College of Law at the American University. He has authored three books on local history and is the programming and publicity coordinator at the Ohio County Public Library. Professor Brent Carney received an MA in History from Old Dominion University. He has authored five books on local history and has served as Visiting Instructor and Adjunct Professor at Wheeling Jesuit University, Franciscan University and West Liberty State College.  He is currently a Professor of Humanities at Eastern Gateway Community College.

While Duffy and Carney wrote the introductory material and some of the captions, they mostly served as editors, photograph researchers, and organizers for Legendary Locals of Wheeling. The majority of the writing was done by family members of those featured and various members of Wheeling’s heritage community.

“This is meant to be a representative sample of some of our best in many fields,” Duffy said. “But there were many hundreds if not thousands of other good people who also deserve to be remembered as legendary locals. But in the interest of space and time, difficult choices had to be made. Nevertheless, we are honored to have this opportunity to illuminate the lives of some of the well-known and unsung heroes of Wheeling. We hope the book will help people to appreciate the deep pool of accomplished people who have called Wheeling home over the years – not just celebrities, but a diverse, hard-working group of people who have been successful in a variety of professions and callings. All of these ‘legendary locals’ took away something from their Wheeling experience that helped shape their lives and accomplishments. We all have that in us. And that’s an important thing to remember and cherish.”

The authors and contributors will discuss the book at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, September 24 at noon. The book can be purchased online at arcadiapublishng.com or at amazon.com. It will also be available at most local and regional bookstores.

Legendary Locals of Wheeling is dedicated to Wheeling’s librarians and library workers, and all of the author royalties from sales of the book are being donated to the Ohio County Public Library.

Program Change: People's University

PEOPLE'S UNIVERSITY WILL EXPLORE GRAPHIC NOVELS

The final two classes in the People's University series: "A Cartoon History of the United States" will be offered in the auditorium of the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, Sept. 17 and Tuesday Sept. 24. Both classes begin at 7 p.m. For the Sept 17 class, "A History of Graphic Narrative," Dr. Wally Hastings, English Professor and Chair of Humanities at West Liberty University, will guide us through a look at the history and evolution of graphic narrative from comic books and "picture books" to graphic novels. As part of the library’s “Banned Books Week” observance, the class will also explore a few of the graphic novels that have been placed on such lists over the years, including Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Craig Thompson’s Blankets.This will follow a brief look at contemporary cartoons on the privacy versus security issues related to social media and government access (eg, the Snowden/NSA case). Dr. Hastings will return on Sept. 24 for Class 5: Graphic Novels, Biographies and Autobiographies. The class will explore the classics like Art Speigelman’s Maus and Maus II,  as well as modern classics like Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Attendees will examine graphic novels and biographies as works of art, as a literary genre, and as social and political commentary. Dr. Hastings and his colleagues at West Liberty University have developed the first literature major in Graphic Narrative, a unique 4-year degree for students interested in the study and analysis of comics as literature, which will launch in fall 2013.

Rebels at the Bar

LUNCH WITH BOOKS, Tuesday, Sept. 17 at noon— Rebels at the Bar

On Tuesday, September 17 at noon, in honor of Constitution Day, Dr. Leslie Liedel, History Chair at Wheeling Jesuit University, will present a book review of Rebels at the Bar: The Fascinating, Forgotten Stories of America's First Women Lawyers by Jill Norgren at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 or visit facebook.com/lunchwithbooks for more information.

Sept 10: Tim Luke Returns and People's University Explores the Constitution Through Cartoons

LUNCH WITH BOOKS at noon— Tim Luke Returns

Tim Luke, of the “Cash in Attic” TV show, will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, September 10 at noon to review two books. The first, An Object of Beauty, is Steve Martin’s novel about the art market of the 1990s. About the book, Bookmarks Magazine said, “[It is] both a smart satire and a serious novel of manners. Martin shares his ample knowledge of…the art world." The second book Tim will review is The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine by Benjamin Wallace. Book description: It was the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold. In 1985, at a heated auction by Christie’s of London, a 1787 bottle of Château Lafite Bordeaux—one of a cache of bottles unearthed in a bricked-up Paris cellar and supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson—went for $156,000 to a member of the Forbes family. Tim Luke has an extensive background in the antique and collectibles field.  In addition to HGTV’s show “Cash in the Attic” he has participated as an appraiser on public television’s “Antiques Roadshow.”  Before becoming an independent consultant, he worked at Christie’s auction house in New York City as Director of the Collectibles Department. Tim is also the author of two books on the history and background of collecting.  He is president and co-owner of his own auction appraisal business, TreasureQuest Appraisal Group, Inc. Tim has appeared as an expert appraiser on the Today Show, The View, Oprah, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, CNN, and Lifetime Television. His appearance is made possible by the Museums of Oglebay Institute. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 or visit facebook.com/lunchwithbooks for more information.

Then at 7 PM:

People's University, Cartoons & the Constitution

The third class in the series, A Cartoon History of the United States at the People's University at the Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling will be held on Tuesday, September 10 at 7 PM. The class will feature an analysis of cartoons dealing with Constitutional issues surrounding the Emancipation Proclamation, the secession crisis, woman suffrage and the equal rights amendment, the war powers debate, free speech cases and many others. Instructor Seán Duffy has a JD from the American University, has taught law and history, and was part of the team that developed the Constitutional history DVD-ROM, Foundations of Freedom. People's University programs are free and open to the public, and free beverages are served. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 or visit facebook.com/lunchwithbooks for more information.