Books Blog : hoosiers

Hoosier Ghosts

Shh_ImReading@evpl — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 17:42:00 GMT

Perhaps you'd like to read about reported hauntings right here in Indiana as Halloween approaches. Even if you don't believe in ghosts, these books can be entertaining and spooky reads perfect for the season.

Haunted Travels of Indiana by Mark Marimen

Encyclopedia of Haunted Indiana by Nicole R. Kobrowski

Haunted Indiana and Haunted Indiana 2, 3 and 4 by Mark Mariman

Haunted Hoosier Trails and More Haunted Hoosier Trails by Wanda Lou Willis

Haunted Backroads: Central Indiana: and Other Stories by Nicole R. Kobrowski

Ghost Hunter's Guide to Indianapolis by Lorri Sankowsky

Haunted Indianapolis: And Other Indiana Ghost Stories by Tom Baker & Jonathan Titchenal

Go Outside!

Shh_ImReading@evpl — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:23:00 GMT

It's springtime! Time to leave the house and enjoy the outdoors! Two recent books you should know about if you're planning on going further than the park down the street are Botanic Gems: Indiana Public Gardens, Including Greater Chicago, Dayton, Cincinnati & Louisville by Alan McPherson and The Complete Guide to Kentucky State Parks by Susan Reigler.

Botanic Gems includes more than 40 gardens in or near Indiana. Before this book, I had no idea that there are so many public gardens in Indiana! There are color photographs and maps for each location. The book includes Evansville's own Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden.

The Complete Guide to Kentucky State Parks is truly complete. The parks are covered in regional sections: north central, south central, eastern and western. The parks closest to the Evansville area are in the western section, which includes Henderson's John James Audubon State Park, a favorite of my family. Kentucky State Parks fall into three categories: resort, recreation & historic sites. Each regional section in the book begins with a great chart that breaks down the parks vertically by those three categories, and the going across, by features like park acres, lake acres, lodge & dining room, cottages, campgrounds, golf, marina, swimming, trails, tennis courts, museums, etc. Following the chart, each park in the section gets its own write-up with photographs.

These books are great resources if you're looking for some outdoor fun!

Indiana 24/7

Shh_ImReading@evpl — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:03:00 GMT

Indiana 24/7 is a beautiful collection of photographs from all over our state. It is a modern photo essay of our day-to-day lives as Hoosiers. The variety the photographers have managed to capture is just amazing. There are many familiar sights in Indiana 24/7, but there are also many surprises. I found the familiar scenes comforting and the surprising ones enlightening. I highly recommend you spend some time with this book!

EVPL also has Illinois 24/7, Kentucy24/7, Michigan 24/7, Ohio 24/7, Tennessee 24/7, Missouri 24/7, along with America 24/7. If that's still not enough photographic excitement for you, check out Cats 24/7 and Dogs 24/7!

"Hoosiers in Hollywood" by David L. Smith

MediaPhile@evpl — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:08:00 GMT

David Smith, professor emeritus of telecommunications at Ball State University, wrote this coffee-table tome about Hoosiers who found fame in Hollywood. Here are some you may or may not know about:

Alice Terry (born on a farm near Vincennes, she was a silent film star)
Clifton Webb (born in Indianapolis, he made his opera debut in Tosca at the Boston Opera House at age 17)
Red Skelton (grew up in a poor section of Vincennes called "Oklahoma," in the north end of town)
William Marshall (born in Gary, he starred in the movie Blacula)
Steve McQueen (born in Beech Grove as "an unwanted child who was virtually abandoned by his teen mother")
James Dean (born in Marion and given the first name of his attending physician)
Fred Williamson (born in Gary, he graduated from Northwestern in architecture, was drafted by the NFL, and played in Super Bowl 1 - he later directed or starred in 40 films)
Greg Kinnear (born in Logansport and lived there until he was nine)
Marilyn Miller (born in Evansville in 1898, she became the "Queen of Musical Comedy")
Louise Dresser (born in Evansville in 1878, Dresser lived here until her teens and went on to star in both Vaudeville and silent films)
Carole Lombard (born in Fort Wayne, her family moved to San Francisco when she was six)
Marjorie Main (born near the small town of Acton in 1890, her most famous role was "Ma Kettle")
Anne Baxter (born in Michigan City, she was the granddaughter of Frank Lloyd Wright)
Betsy Palmer (lived in Hammond and East Chicago, then attended secretarial school, followed by the IU extension in Gary before becoming a theatre major at DePaul U in Chicago)
Florence Henderson (the youngest of 10 children born to a poor farming family in Dale)
Shelley Long (born and raised in Fort Wayne; both parents were school teachers)
Vivica Fox (born in Indianapolis, she graduated from Arlington High School and later found fame as an actress and singer)
Richard, Barbara, Constance, Joan Bennett (Richard, who grew up in Bennett's Switch, near Logansport, became an actor and producer and father to three actresses)
Jackson Five (born and raised in Gary)
Elmo Lincoln (born in Rochester and the first Tarzan -- in the 1918 Tarzan of the Apes)
Buck Jones (born in Vincennes, he grew up in Indianapolis and later became a leading movie cowboy)
Roberta Wise (born and raised in Connorsville, he later directed Citizen Kane and many other movies)
Sydney Pollack (born in Lafayette, he moved to South Bend while in elementary school)

Many many more Hoosiers are covered in this heavily illustrated compendium.