Part 1 of a three-part series
By Paul A. Tenkotte
Special to NKyTribune
As we approach the winter solstice, daylight hours shorten as the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun. And thanks to the November switch from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time, earlier sunsets seem even worse, as a pale of darkness casts its shadow by dinner time. The temperatures are falling, and before long, snow and ice will be falling as well. It’s a great time of the year to curl up in front of a fireplace and to read a good book.
Fortunately, regional historians have plenty of good reading to brighten the dark and dreary hours of your late autumn and winter seasons. And if you don’t like to read history books yourself, these books would make great gifts for family and friends for the holiday season.
Join Jim Claypool, Dave Schroeder, Tom Schiff and me for a book-signing at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at Crestview Towne Center, Saturday, November 21 at 2:00 pm. A whole range of books will be available, including Gateway City: Covington, Kentucky, 1815-2015, which just received a Publication Award from the Kentucky Historical Society.
At 450 pages, this profusely-illustrated, hardback book is meaty in content. Whether you’re interested in art, architecture, African Americans, business, education, fire & police, health care, immigration, literature, music & entertainment, politics, religion, rivers, sports, or women, you’ll find it in separate chapters written by local experts. There is also a four-chapter chronological survey.
David E. Schroeder’s Life Along the Ohio: A Sesquicentennial History of Ludlow, Kentucky will also be available. This 239-page work is generously illustrated and sprightly written. There’s an entire chapter on the Ludlow Lagoon Amusement Park, and plenty of details about the importance of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad to Ludlow.
Former and current residents of Ludlow will love this book. It brought back a flood of happy memories from my childhood, when I used to ride my bike to visit my cousin, Dave Topmiller, in West Covington. We’d spend our summer days walking down to Ludlow, eating ice cream or hamburgers at Reeves, buying cupcakes at Ludlow Bakery, or watching a matinee at the Ludlow Theater.
Jim Claypool and Tom Schiff will be signing the brand new Northern Kentucky University: A Panoramic History, a great gift for alumni and supporters of NKU. Some of Claypool’s other books will also be available, including his best-selling Our Fellow Kentuckians: Rascals, Heroes, and Just Plain Common Folk. Music fans will not want to miss Claypool’s Kentucky’s Bluegrass Music. And it’s fun meeting Jim Claypool in person, as he is always entertaining.
Other books available at Joseph-Beth in Crestview will include my A Home of Our Own: The Suburb of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, 1910-2010, as well as a book that I contributed to, Brian Hackett’s For the Centuries: St. Elizabeth Healthcare and Northern Kentucky, 1861-2011.
So, don’t let the winter blues—we call it SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) these days—get you down. Get reading and get happy!
Paul A. Tenkotte (tenkottep@nku.edu) is Professor of History and Director of the Center for Public History at NKU. With other well-known regional historians, James C. Claypool and David E. Schroeder, he is a co-editor of the new 450-page Gateway City: Covington, Kentucky, 1815-2015, now available at your local booksellers, the Center for Great Neighborhoods in Covington and online sellers.
