New Programs Announced

A group of four new, high quality Lunch With Books programs have just been announced for late summer and fall 2007. They include:

Aug 7th: West Virginia Author A.V. Gallagher, The Ghost Army

If you have an interest in World War II history, join Charleston writer A. V. Gallagher at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program on August 7th at noon. A former journalist with both United Press International and the Associated Press as well as the Charleston Gazette, Gallagher will discuss his meticulously researched book, The Ghost Army. A work of historical fiction several years in the making, The Ghost Army chronicles the defeat of the German 6th Army by the Russians at the battle of Stalingrad. In the book, Gallagher explores the mysteriously bad decision making by one of Hitler’s best officers that led to the destruction of nearly 300,000 soldiers through starvation, exhaustion, disease, and enemy bullets. Copies of the books will be available for purchase and signing. For more information please visit www.theghostarmy.com or call the library at 304-232-0244.

Aug 14th: Wheeling author Dr. Richard Mullin, The Soul of Classical American Philosophy

On Tuesday, August 14th at noon, Dr. Richard Mullin, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Wheeling Jesuit University, will discuss his new book: The Soul of Classical American Philosophy: The Ethical and Spiritual Insights of William James, Josiah Royce, and Charles Sanders Peirce. The book explores American Pragmatism and the potential of the human spirit. It is written in a straightforward style understandable to the non-specialist without watering down the thought. Dr. Mullin, who taught philosophy at WJU for thirty years, resides in Wheeling. Copies of the books will be available for sale. Please contact the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Aug 28: eBay Day at the Library!

Would you like to learn how sell your Extra stuff on eBay? You are invited to a free class at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 beginning at noon and ending at 2:30 pm. Sponsored by the United States Postal Service and the OCPL’s Lunch With Books program, the class will be taught by Dina Lord, SBS, eBay Ambassador for the Pittsburgh District United States Postal Service. The class will include an introduction to buying and selling on eBay, the world’s largest and best known internet auction web site. Attendees will learn how to: register and get started; develop listings; use shipping labels through eBay/Paypal; pay for postage online; and use smart U.S. Postal Service shipping solutions, like free carrier pick-up at your home or office. Free educational materials designed to help you with your listings will also be available. For more information, please call the library at 304-232-0244.

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Sept 25th: Wheeling's Paul McGinnis, USS Indianapolis Survivor

Wheeling resident Paul McGinnis, a survivor of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in the Pacific Ocean during World War II, will appear at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, September 25th at noon. The heavy cruiser Indianapolis was sunk by Japanese torpedoes in 1945 after delivering materials used to make the atomic bomb later detonated over Hiroshima. Mr. McGinnis was among the 317 who survived from a crew of nearly 1197 men. The remainder died from dehydration, exposure, and shark attack as the men drifted at sea for several days. The tragedy was the worst at sea loss of life in the US Navy’s history. Mr. McGinnis told his full story in the book Only 317 Survived. For more information, please call the library at 304-232-0244.

Celebrate the 4th!

Revolutionary War Patriots of the Ohio Valley

Join us for an Independence Day celebration at the Ohio County Public Library. Representatives of the Ebenezer Zane and George Washington Chapters of the Sons of the American Revolution will be at the Library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, July 3rd at noon to talk about Revolutionary War Veterans of the Ohio Valley. The Ebenezer Zane Chapter has published a 4 volume set entitled Revolutionary War Patriots, which contains a wealth of records and genealogical information about the patriots who are buried or lived in the local counties of Ohio and West Virginia. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

LWB Welcomes Fever

Three members of the Cabin Fever String band delighted a Lunch With Books audience of 48 people with an informal hour of old time country, gospel, and bluegrass music. Scott Black played fiddle, Richard Pollack played banjo (clawhammer style) and tin whistle, and Bob Heyer played guitar. The three also perfomed three part harmonies, answered audience questions about their music, and took a few requests. During a few songs, Scott Black thrilled the audience with demonstrations of freestyle Appalachian clogging. The band played a mix of Appalachian fiddle tunes, age-old ballads, and traditional bluegrass favorites, including a pair of songs from the Carter Family as well as Man of Constant Sorrow, re-popularized by the film, O Brother Where Art Thou. The Cabin Fever String Band has been entertaining audiences all over the tri-state region since 1986, including performances at Jamboree In the Hills, the Belmont County Fair, and Bluegrass in the Hills among numerous other events.

Cabin Fever String Band!

If you’re in the mood for old time country, gospel, and bluegrass music, the Ohio County Public Library has a show for you. The Cabin Fever String Band will bring its distinctive sound to the library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, June 26th at noon. Featuring an eclectic mix of Appalachian fiddle tunes, age-old ballads, traditional bluegrass favorites, an occasional blues or jug band tune and even some clogging, the Cabin Fever String Band has been entertaining audiences all over the tri-state region since 1986. Composed of musicians Scott Black, Richard Pollack, Matt Hines, and Bob Heyer, the band has performed at Jamboree In the Hills, the Belmont County Fair, and Bluegrass in the Hills among numerous other events. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Betsy Ross is Next!

On Tuesday, June 19th at noon, celebrate Flag Day at the Ohio County Public Library as Betsy Ross visits the library’s Lunch With Books program. Portrayed by Patty Cooper of Parkersburg, West Virginia, Ms. Ross will discuss the history of America’s flag. Patty Cooper portrays a variety of women in history. She has an Associate degree in Applied Science and has worked as a historical interpreter on Blennerhassett Island State Park. She has lectured, taught, and given workshops and demonstrations at fairs and festivals on antique needlework, tools, and rughooking. She is a member of Pioneer Fibercrafters Guild, the Daughters of American Pioneers, and Wood County Historical Society. She has been a Wood County 4 H leader for the past 13 years. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Jeanne Mozier Delights and Amuses

Celebrated West Virginia author Jeanne Mozier appeared at Lunch With Books during a special Thursday program on June 7th. And if you missed her presentation, you missed one of the best speakers ever to appear at LWB. Mozier, who was named the state's best author by Graffiti magazine, delighted the audience with amusing stories about the creation of her book, Way Out in West Virginia: a Must-Have Guide to the Oddities and Wonders of the Mountain State. Mozier designed the book, which features unusual travel destinations throughout West Virginia, to be a different kind of travel book. Three of the six photos featured on the cover of the book depict sites in the northern panhandle: Moundsville's Grave Creek Mound and Palace of Gold, and the World's largest teapot in Chester. Mozier said she hasn't had a fish sandwich as good as Coleman's (also featured in the book) since she lived in New York many years ago. Mozier shared numerous amusing stories about her experiences, including signing books at a nudist convention that featured a pudding fight, viewing moldy mummies in Philippi, and organizing her own international water tasting competition in her home town of Berkley Springs. Like Chuck Kinder, Mozier strongly advocated celebrating and embracing the oddities and strangeness of West Virginia. In fact, Mozier believes that if properly managed and promoted, the state's weird resources could become invaluable tourist attractions.

World War Two Veteran to Visit Lunch With Books

On Tuesday, June 12, 2007, at noon, Wellsburg resident Edward Jackfert, a veteran of World War II and a survivor of Japanese "hell ships" and slave labor camps will visit the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program. Using a Powerpoint presentation featuring rarely seen photographs and narration, Jackfert will discuss the defense of the Philippine Islands and his experiences as a prisoner of the Japanese Imperial Forces. Jackfert will have a few copies of his self-published memori, Service To My Country (pictured above), available for purchase.

Kinder Launches Weird West Virginia Week

On Tuesday, June 5th at noon, a large Lunch With Books audience of fifty-five people welcomed author and raconteur Chuck Kinder. The chair of the creative writing department at the University of Pittsburgh, Kinder made his first trip to Wheeling in many years.

Kinder has published several books, including Snakehunter, Honeymooners: A Cautionary Tale, and Last Mountain Dancer: Hard Earned Lessons in Love, Loss, and Honky Tonk Outlaw Life. Kinder, who lists coal miner, moonshiner, bartender, bouncer, bandit, prizefighter, circus performer, tango teacher, white-water river guide, and cowboy among his previous job titles, read from the prologue and first chapter of the latter book, which, he admits is “full of lies”.

To gather stories for the book, Kinder said he would find a clean motel in a small West Virginia town and hang out at the local diners and bars. To get things started, he often told people he was a relative of Hank Williams, which Kinder admitted is not exactly accurate.

Kinder said he learned the art of storytelling by listening to his aunts (pronounced “ants” of course) and grandmother in the family kitchen when he was a boy in the Huntington area of West Virginia. He said they were fantastic storytellers who would often add new “memories” to enhance stories. If grandma approved, the memories might become part of the official tale to be retold time and again at similar gatherings. In this way, Kinder said, he learned he could “change history” through the technique of “faction” (part fact and part fiction), which makes a story juicier and more memorable.

Kinder admitted his regret that his book was not fully banned in Beckley as was his friend Lee Maynard’s book Crum. “That was the best thing that ever happened to that book,” said Kinder. “That got everyone interested and he sold a million copies.”

Kinder closed by saying that West Virginian’s should stop being defensive about being labeled hillbillies. He said that West Virginians should be proud and happy that they are not bland like the rest of the country. He also lauded the great West Virginia and Appalachian storytelling traditions.

Lunch With Books To Welcome Author Jeanne Mozier

On Thursday, June 7 at noon, noted West Virginia author Jeanne Mozier will be featured at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling as a part of the library’s Wild, Wonderful, & Weird West Virginia Week. An award-winning writer of both fiction and non-fiction, Mozier is the author of the most popular travel book on the state –Way Out in West Virginia, a Must-have Guide to the Oddities and Wonders of the Mountain State, now in its fifth printing. Way Out was voted best book about West Virginia in 2006 by Graffiti. Her coffee-table book with photographer Steve Shaluta, Wonders of West Virginia, was released in November 2005 and is currently in its second printing.

Mozier has more than thirty attractions in the Wheeling area featured in Way Out including the Victoria Vaudeville Theater, Coleman's fish sandwiches and various aspects of Oglebay Institute and Resort. "I found the Northern Panhandle one of the most wonder and oddity rich regions of the state," said Mozier.

Mozier is a regular contributor of general travel articles to several publications and writes about her adopted home state of West Virginia for a variety of publications including Wonderful West Virginia Magazine, Blue Ridge Country, Valley Home and Style and the West Virginia Encyclopedia. She also wrote the only guide to the Eastern Panhandle, Panhandle Paradise, currently out of print. Her short stories are included in three volumes of Tales from the Springs.

Jeanne lives in Berkeley Springs where she has been a well-known figure for 30 years, promoting tourism and the arts. One of her favorite tasks is serving as the Voice of the Apple Butter Festival. Together with her husband Jack Soronen, Jeanne owns and operates the vintage Star Theatre, a neighborhood movie house.

Jeanne also serves on the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. Her service awards include Distinguished West Virginian and in October 2006, a national award as a Classic Woman from Traditional Home magazine. Jeanne holds degrees from Cornell and Columbia universities.

Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring lunch. Free beverages are provided. Please call the library at6 304-232-0244 for more information.