A wonderful honor

I know the book "Tales of the Road-Highway 61" has been read by many people but now, a whole city is reading it!  It is a humbling experience. 

This is Jo Emerson, the mayor of White Bear Lake, Minnesota and yours truly with a proclamation recognizing the first ever "White Bear Reads" program, and the inaugural selection: "Tales of the Road-Highway 61"!!!

The "White Bear Reads" program is based on other successful efforts across the country where a book is selected and the community comes together to experience it.

I'm so excited that "Tales" has been selected for this unique program in White Bear Lake. What an honor!

White Bear Lake is a lovely town on Highway 61. I wrote about the Johnson Boatworks, a historic place that unfortunately will be leveled for townhouses sometime, and the old White Bear City Hall, purported to have been designed by the great Cass Gilbert. The Boatworks was also a key site in the documentary. Isn't this a cool, old photo of the craftsmen building one of the racing scows??

White Bear has great history, and I'm hoping that the community acknowledges that and works together to preserve what is left and not only some of the sites in "Tales of the Road" but other meaningful places as well. The book's underlying message is that history is important, no matter where it is found, and we found a lot along the highway!

The kick-off event is at the White Bear Library February 2, 2010. I plan to talk about "Tales" but there may well be some surprises too.