The Italian Hall Tragedy

Sorry about the lack of updates here . . . I've been terribly busy putting the finishing touches on my next project: a Biography of Douglass Houghton. The manuscript is done and I am just making the minor corrections that always come up right before a book is done.

On the Italian Hall front, I will be speaking at Finn Fest in Duluth on July 26, and to the Eagle Harbor book club the next day: http://www.eagleharborbookgroup.org/

Stay tuned for more.

Steve

I'll be speaking on THURS, May 1 in Coopersville.  Checck it out here:
http://www.coopersville.com/museum/events.htm

Steve

I will be speaking at the Portage Lake District Library in Houghton on April 25 at 7:00 p.m.  I will bring my powerpoint presentation with me.  If you are in the copper country that evening, stop by.
www.pldl.org
Also, the next day is one of the meetings of the planning committee for the centennial of the strike year (1913 -2013).  I plan on going to that and since the timing is so good (I'm at the library the night before the planning meeting) I would invite anyone with ideas about how to commemorate the strike or the Italian Hall to stop by the library and pass them along.

Steve

I received a very nice online review after my talk in Royal Oak.  Check it out here:
http://www.versagivoice.com/RO_news_politics.htm/library_programs.htm

I will be speaking at the Royak Oak Public Library the evening of February 27.
http://www.ropl.org/
Click there for details, time, location etc.  I will be giving my power point presentation and also signing books etc.

Steve

The book has been out a little over a year now (and we have almost sold out the third printing) -- but one comment has come to me several times. People tell me that they wish the book had endnotes. I had someone tell me this last week after I gave a lecture. I had the book in my hand, so I opened it to page 218 and showed her that the book has endnotes -- pages 218 to 233 note the source for every single sentence in the book which could be taken objectively (i.e., statements of fact are all noted).

For example, on page 176 I mention that an architectural historian examined the building and wrote a report. This section is found under the heading of "Lingering controversies: the Door Controversy." On page 229 of my endnotes (which are titled "Notes" -- which I believe is the most common name for a section of notes) under the heading Lingering controversies -- the Door Controversy, I write:

"Harrington's report is The Historical American Building Survey: Italian Hall HABS No MI-425. There is a copy at the MTU Archives."

So, any reader who was curious about my statement could see where I found it and go find it themselves. most of my other notes are like that -- when they refer to a particular sentence my note begins with the first few words of the sentence I am noting. This method of noting is becoming more common in the publishing industry because 1) it is much easier to read the text and 2) people can still look up the sources if they so desire.

Steve

As noted below, my publisher recently put out a facsimile of the inquest transcript that is much cleaner and easier to read than the copy of the transcript at the Tech archives.  One of the things that recently occurred to me is that the copy at Tech has some writing on it that is NOT on mine -- indicating that someone wrote on the copy after the proceedings were over.  It might seem like a minor point but someone took a green ball point pen (ball points were not common in the US before 1945) and scribbled on the index to the transcript next to the names of the people who signed the document (for example, it says :"He signed: Battista Brusso"next to Brusso's name on the first page of the index.)  Some researchers have included that language in their transcriptions of the inquest -- when they were clearly added later.  I suspect they were made in the 1970s, but that's just a hunch on my part.  It's also a good reason to look at the best copy of the original you can find, if you want to study this event.

Steve

Had a great turnout at the Grand Rapids Public Library.  They taped it and put a podcast and mp3 of it on the internet.  You can hear the audio of my presentation here:
http://www.grpl.org/yourlibrary/pods/DeathsDoor.mp3

You'll have to imagine the photogarphs that accompany me talking . . .

Steve

I will be participating in the "CELEBRATION OF THE BOOK" at the Grand Rapids Public Library on October 20th.  I will be speaking on a panel of Michigan Authors at 11 am and then will be talking specifically about "Death's Door" at noon (with a power point presentation.  Here's the link to their site: http://www.grpl.org/perl/events.pl?search=oct+20

Steve

FREE! Magazine in Finland published a very nice review of Death's Door (in English).  See:

http://www.freemagazine.fi/

Steve