Authors of ‘1911: The Austin Flood’ Available for Book Signing, Oct. 1
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Gale Largey and Paul W. Heimel will be in Coudersport on Saturday, October 1 during the Falling Leaves Festival, to do two joint book signings in promotion of their recently published books about the Austin Flood. The authors will be selling and signing copies of their work at the Coudersport Public Library from 9:30 am – 11:00 am and at the Olga Gallery, Café, and Bistro from 11:15am – 1pm.
Dr. Largey will be selling and signing copies of his newest work, The Austin Disaster, 1911: As Reported in the Media before Radio, Television, and the Internet. In The Austin Disaster, 1911, Largey uses contemporary newspaper accounts of the Austin flood from around the globe to illustrate the way that early 20th century news media reported about the disaster. It is a hardcover coffee table book with 272 pages of fascinating articles, photographs, and artistic renderings from various newspapers, from the local Potter Enterprise, Roulette Recorder, and Wellsboro Gazette to the international New York Times, Times of London, Hong Kong Telegraph, and Mexican Herald. Largey, born and raised in St. Marys, PA, was a professor of sociology at Mansfield University for 35 years. He has written many books on the history of northern Pennsylvania and he has also produced several documentary films, including The Austin Disaster 1911: A Chronicle of Human Character. He and his wife live in Wellsboro. Mountain Home magazine recently described Largey as “a Ken Burns of the backwoods, a filmmaker and scholar with a storyteller’s love for the people and land where he grew up and has lived most of his adult life.” For more information, visit http://www.galelargey.com/.
Coudersport’s own Paul W. Heimel will be selling and signing copies of his most recent work, 1911: The Austin Flood (Knox Books, 2011), which tells the story of the flood from start to finish- why the dam broke, who’s to blame, and what lessons were learned. There are tales of heroism and villainy, of blind faith and wishful thinking. There’s a review of engineers’ discoveries and a retrospective on the aftermath of one of the worst floods of the 20th century. A special bonus section titled “They Were There,” includes poignant first-hand accounts from more than a dozen people who witnessed the flood of 1911 and lived to tell about it. Heimel grew up less than a dozen miles from the Austin Dam and has spent his life in Potter County, Pennsylvania. A former journalist and corporate communications professional, he now serves as a member of the Potter County Board of Commissioners. He is the author of five history books, including the critically acclaimed “Eliot Ness: The Real Story” (Cumberland House Publishing Inc., 2000), which is considered the authoritative biography of the famous Chicago crimefighter. Heimel has written dozens of magazine articles and has appeared on numerous television documentaries and interview programs. Find out more about Mr. Heimel and his work at http://www.knoxbooks.net/.
