In anticipation of the Millstadt Library’s first Authors’ Faire, here are a couple of reviews and recommendations on titles that you might find here (to borrow on your card or to purchase in-person from the authors on Jan 15th). We’re having special extended hours on Saturday, January 15th, from 10am to 4 pm to accommodate our many authors.
Find the works of Jim Merkel in your Illinois Heartland Library System!
The making of an icon: the dreamers, the schemers, and the hard hats who built the Gateway Arch - second edition, 2018 https://search.illinoisheartland.org/search/title.aspx?ctx=256.1033.0.0.3&pos=2&cn=3664604
Summary: Take 350 news articles, 200 years worth of history, 85 interviews, and a fraudulent election with the taint of scandal to see a national monument completed on October 28th, 1965 - you’ve got yourself a St. Louis Arch. Designed by Eero Saarinen, this steel and concrete edifice stands as the Gateway to the West in honor of Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase, then doubling the breadth of the contiguous states. But more than a mere monument, the Arch is personal for all those living and working within its sight. Merkel’s fascination with details brings the whole story into sharp relief. It’s a love letter to hard work and an archive of memories that entertain as well as inform.
Gush Sesh: How long (literally) did the French flag fly over St. Louis between its control under Spain and the United States of America? What initials were displayed on the sides of the derricks climbing the Arch legs as it was being built? What’s a weighted catenary curve anyway? These and many more mysteries are solved inside Merkel’s work lauding the Arch as part of St. Louis’ identity.
Also available:
Beer, Brats, and Baseball: St. Louis Germans - 2012 https://search.illinoisheartland.org/search/title.aspx?ctx=256.1033.0.0.3&pos=4&cn=746706
Beer, Brats, and Baseball: German-Americans in St. Louis - 2015 https://search.illinoisheartland.org/search/title.aspx?ctx=256.1033.0.0.3&pos=1&cn=3554412
The Colorful Characters of St. Louis - 2016 https://search.illinoisheartland.org/search/title.aspx?ctx=256.1033.0.0.3&pos=7&cn=3461986
Growing up St. Louis : looking back through the decades - 2020 https://search.illinoisheartland.org/search/title.aspx?ctx=256.1033.0.0.3&pos=5&cn=3857322
Hoosiers and Scrubby Dutch : St. Louis's south side - 2010 https://search.illinoisheartland.org/search/title.aspx?ctx=256.1033.0.0.3&pos=3&cn=673352
Hoosiers and Scrubby Dutch : St. Louis's south side - 2014 https://search.illinoisheartland.org/search/title.aspx?ctx=256.1033.0.0.3&pos=6&cn=3293568
The making of an icon : the dreamers, the schemers, and the hard hats who built the Gateway Arch - 2014 https://search.illinoisheartland.org/search/title.aspx?ctx=256.1033.0.0.3&pos=9&cn=3189446