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Gulf Today
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
From Stephen King to New Jersey diners, History Press books explore local lore
With deep knowledge of Stephen King's books and curiosity about their inspirations, writer Sharon Kitchens began a journey around Maine. As she learned about the real-life settings and people behind such fiction as 'IT' and 'Salem's Lot,' she arranged them into an online map and story she called 'Stephen King's Maine.' 'It was amateur hour, in a way,' she says. 'But after around 27,000 people visited the site one of my friends said to me, 'You should do something more with this.'' Published in 2024, the resulting book-length edition of 'Stephen King's Maine' is among hundreds released each year by The History Press. Now part of Arcadia Publishing, the 20-year-old imprint is dedicated to regional, statewide and locally focused works, found for sale in bookstores, museums, hotels and other tourist destinations. The mission of The History Press is to explore and unearth 'the story of America, one town or community at a time.' The King book stands out if only for its focus on an international celebrity. Most History Press releases arise out of more obscure passions and expertise, whether Michael C. Gabriele's 'The History of Diners in New Jersey,' Thomas Dresser's 'African Americans of Martha's Vineyard' or Clem C. Pellett's 'Murder on Montana's Hi-Line,' the author's probe into the fatal shooting of his grandfather. Andrew Higgins and Savannah Shealy peruse the biography section of the Green Hand Bookstore. Like Kitchens, History Press authors tend to be regional or local specialists — history lovers, academics, retirees and hobbyists. Kitchens' background includes writing movie press releases, blogging for the Portland Press Herald and contributing to the Huffington Post. Pellett is a onetime surgeon who was so compelled by his grandfather's murder that he switched careers and became a private investigator. In Boulder, Colorado, Nancy K. Williams is a self-described 'Western history writer' whose books include 'Buffalo Soldiers on the Colorado Frontier' and 'Haunted Hotels of Southern Colorado.' The History Press publishes highly specific works such as Jerry Harrington's tribute to a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor from the 1930s, 'Crusading Iowa Journalist Verne Marshall.' It also issues various series, notably 'Haunted' guides that publishing director Kate Jenkins calls a 'highly localized version' of the ghost story genre. History Press has long recruited potential authors through a team of field representatives, but now writers such as Kitchens are as likely to be brought to the publisher's attention through a national network of writers who have worked with it before. A customer shops at the Green Hand Bookstore in Portland, Maine. 'Our ideal author isn't someone with national reach,' Jenkins says, 'but someone who's a member of their community, whether that's an ethnic community or a local community, and is passionate about preserving that community's history. We're the partners who help make that history accessible to a wide audience.' The History Press is a prolific, low-cost operation. The books tend to be brief — under 200 pages — and illustrated with photos drawn from local archives or taken by the authors themselves. The print runs are small, and authors are usually paid through royalties from sales rather than advances up front. History Press books rarely are major hits, but they can still attract substantial attention for works tailored to specific areas, and they tend to keep selling over time. Editions selling 15,000 copies or more include 'Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee,' by Lloyd Arneach, Alphonso Brown's 'A Gullah Guide to Charleston' and Gayle Soucek's 'Marshall Field's,' a tribute to the Chicago department store. The King guide, which has sold around 8,500 copies so far, received an unexpected lift — an endorsement by its subject, who was shown the book at Maine's Bridgton Books and posted an Instagram of himself giving it a thumbs-up. 'I was genuinely shocked in the best possible way,' Kitchens says, adding that she saw the book as a kind of thank-you note to King. 'Every choice I made while writing the book, I made with him in mind.' 'Stephen King's Maine' by Sharon Kitchens and 'The History of Diners in New Jersey' by Michael C. Gabrielle. Photos: Associated Press History Press authors say they like the chance to tell stories that they believe haven't been heard, or were told incorrectly. Rory O'Neill Schmitt is an Arizona-based researcher, lecturer and writer who feels her native New Orleans is often 'portrayed in way that feels false or highlights a touristy element,' like a 'caricature.' She has responded with such books as 'The Haunted Guide to New Orleans' and 'Kate Chopin in New Orleans.' Brianne Turczynski is a freelance writer and self-described 'perpetual seeker of the human condition' who lives outside of Detroit and has an acknowledged obsession with 'Poletown,' a Polish ethnic community uprooted and dismantled in the 1980s after General Motors decided to build a new plant there and successfully asserted eminent domain. In 2021, The History Press released Turczynski's 'Detroit's Lost Poletown: The Little Neighbourhood That Touched a Nation.' 'All of the journalist work that followed the story seemed to lack a sense of closure for the people who suffered,' she said. 'So my book is a love letter to that community, an attempt for closure.' Kitchens has followed her King book with the story of an unsolved homicide, 'The Murder of Dorothy Milliken, Cold Case in Maine.' One of her early boosters, Michelle Souliere, is the owner of the Green Hand Bookstore in Portland and herself a History Press writer. A lifelong aficionado of Maine history, her publishing career, like Kitchens', began with an online posting. She had been maintaining a blog of local lore, 'Strange Maine,' when The History Press contacted her and suggested she expand her writing into a book. 'Strange Maine: True Tales from the Pine Tree State' was published in 2010. 'My blog had been going for about 4 years, and had grown from brief speculative and expressive posts to longer original research articles,' she wrote in an email. 'I often wonder how I did it at all — I wrote the book just as I was opening up the Green Hand Bookshop. Madness!!! Or a lot of coffee. Or both!!!' Associated Press
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
From Stephen King to New Jersey diners, History Press books cover local lore around US
The History Press is a prolific, low-cost operation. The books tend to be brief — under 200 pages — and illustrated with photos drawn from local archives or taken by the authors themselves. The print runs are small, and authors are usually paid through royalties from sales rather than advances up front. History Press books rarely are major hits, but they can still attract substantial attention for works tailored to specific areas, and they tend to keep selling over time. Editions selling 15,000 copies or more include 'Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee,' by Lloyd Arneach, Alphonso Brown's 'A Gullah Guide to Charleston' and Gayle Soucek's 'Marshall Field's,' a tribute to the Chicago department store. The King guide, which has sold around 8,500 copies so far, received an unexpected lift — an endorsement by its subject, who was shown the book at Maine's Bridgton Books and posted an Instagram of himself giving it a thumbs-up. 'I was genuinely shocked in the best possible way,' Kitchens says, adding that she saw the book as a kind of thank-you note to King. 'Every choice I made while writing the book, I made with him in mind.' Getting the story right History Press authors say they like the chance to tell stories that they believe haven't been heard, or were told incorrectly. Rory O'Neill Schmitt is an Arizona-based researcher, lecturer and writer who feels her native New Orleans is often 'portrayed in way that feels false or highlights a touristy element,' like a 'caricature.' She has responded with such books as 'The Haunted Guide to New Orleans' and 'Kate Chopin in New Orleans.' Brianne Turczynski is a freelance writer and self-described 'perpetual seeker of the human condition' who lives outside of Detroit and has an acknowledged obsession with 'Poletown,' a Polish ethnic community uprooted and dismantled in the 1980s after General Motors decided to build a new plant there and successfully asserted eminent domain. In 2021, The History Press released Turczynski's 'Detroit's Lost Poletown: The Little Neighborhood That Touched a Nation.' 'All of the journalist work that followed the story seemed to lack a sense of closure for the people who suffered,' she said. 'So my book is a love letter to that community, an attempt for closure.' Kitchens has followed her King book with the story of an unsolved homicide, 'The Murder of Dorothy Milliken, Cold Case in Maine.' One of her early boosters, Michelle Souliere, is the owner of the Green Hand Bookstore in Portland and herself a History Press writer. A lifelong aficionado of Maine history, her publishing career, like Kitchens', began with an online posting. She had been maintaining a blog of local lore, 'Strange Maine,' when The History Press contacted her and suggested she expand her writing into a book. 'Strange Maine: True Tales from the Pine Tree State' was published in 2010. 'My blog had been going for about 4 years, and had grown from brief speculative and expressive posts to longer original research articles,' she wrote in an email. 'I often wonder how I did it at all -- I wrote the book just as I was opening up the Green Hand Bookshop. Madness!!! Or a lot of coffee. Or both!!!'
5 days ago
- Entertainment
From Stephen King to New Jersey diners, History Press books cover local lore around the US
NEW YORK -- With deep knowledge of Stephen King's books and curiosity about their inspirations, writer Sharon Kitchens began a journey around Maine. As she learned about the real-life settings and people behind such fiction as 'IT' and 'Salem's Lot,' she arranged them into an online map and story she called 'Stephen King's Maine.' 'It was amateur hour, in a way,' she says. 'But after around 27,000 people visited the site one of my friends said to me, 'You should do something more with this.'' Published in 2024, the resulting book-length edition of 'Stephen King's Maine' is among hundreds released each year by The History Press. Now part of Arcadia Publishing, the 20-year-old imprint is dedicated to regional, statewide and locally focused works, found for sale in bookstores, museums, hotels and other tourist destinations. The mission of The History Press is to explore and unearth 'the story of America, one town or community at a time.' The King book stands out if only for its focus on an international celebrity. Most History Press releases arise out of more obscure passions and expertise, whether Michael C. Gabriele's 'The History of Diners in New Jersey,' Thomas Dresser's 'African Americans of Martha's Vineyard' or Clem C. Pellett's 'Murder on Montana's Hi-Line,' the author's probe into the fatal shooting of his grandfather. Like Kitchens, History Press authors tend to be regional or local specialists — history lovers, academics, retirees and hobbyists. Kitchens' background includes writing movie press releases, blogging for the Portland Press Herald and contributing to the Huffington Post. Pellett is a onetime surgeon who was so compelled by his grandfather's murder that he switched careers and became a private investigator. In Boulder, Colorado, Nancy K. Williams is a self-described 'Western history writer' whose books include 'Buffalo Soldiers on the Colorado Frontier' and 'Haunted Hotels of Southern Colorado.' The History Press publishes highly specific works such as Jerry Harrington's tribute to a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor from the 1930s, 'Crusading Iowa Journalist Verne Marshall.' It also issues various series, notably 'Haunted' guides that publishing director Kate Jenkins calls a 'highly localized version' of the ghost story genre. History Press has long recruited potential authors through a team of field representatives, but now writers such as Kitchens are as likely to be brought to the publisher's attention through a national network of writers who have worked with it before. 'Our ideal author isn't someone with national reach,' Jenkins says, 'but someone who's a member of their community, whether that's an ethnic community or a local community, and is passionate about preserving that community's history. We're the partners who help make that history accessible to a wide audience.' The History Press is a prolific, low-cost operation. The books tend to be brief — under 200 pages — and illustrated with photos drawn from local archives or taken by the authors themselves. The print runs are small, and authors are usually paid through royalties from sales rather than advances up front. History Press books rarely are major hits, but they can still attract substantial attention for works tailored to specific areas, and they tend to keep selling over time. Editions selling 15,000 copies or more include 'Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee,' by Lloyd Arneach, Alphonso Brown's 'A Gullah Guide to Charleston' and Gayle Soucek's 'Marshall Field's,' a tribute to the Chicago department store. The King guide, which has sold around 8,500 copies so far, received an unexpected lift — an endorsement by its subject, who was shown the book at Maine's Bridgton Books and posted an Instagram of himself giving it a thumbs-up. 'I was genuinely shocked in the best possible way,' Kitchens says, adding that she saw the book as a kind of thank-you note to King. 'Every choice I made while writing the book, I made with him in mind.' History Press authors say they like the chance to tell stories that they believe haven't been heard, or were told incorrectly. Rory O'Neill Schmitt is an Arizona-based researcher, lecturer and writer who feels her native New Orleans is often 'portrayed in way that feels false or highlights a touristy element,' like a 'caricature.' She has responded with such books as 'The Haunted Guide to New Orleans' and 'Kate Chopin in New Orleans.' Brianne Turczynski is a freelance writer and self-described 'perpetual seeker of the human condition' who lives outside of Detroit and has an acknowledged obsession with 'Poletown,' a Polish ethnic community uprooted and dismantled in the 1980s after General Motors decided to build a new plant there and successfully asserted eminent domain. In 2021, The History Press released Turczynski's 'Detroit's Lost Poletown: The Little Neighborhood That Touched a Nation.' 'All of the journalist work that followed the story seemed to lack a sense of closure for the people who suffered,' she said. 'So my book is a love letter to that community, an attempt for closure.' Kitchens has followed her King book with the story of an unsolved homicide, 'The Murder of Dorothy Milliken, Cold Case in Maine.' One of her early boosters, Michelle Souliere, is the owner of the Green Hand Bookstore in Portland and herself a History Press writer. A lifelong aficionado of Maine history, her publishing career, like Kitchens', began with an online posting. She had been maintaining a blog of local lore, 'Strange Maine,' when The History Press contacted her and suggested she expand her writing into a book. 'Strange Maine: True Tales from the Pine Tree State' was published in 2010.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
From Stephen King to New Jersey diners, History Press books cover local lore around the US
NEW YORK (AP) — With deep knowledge of Stephen King's books and curiosity about their inspirations, writer Sharon Kitchens began a journey around Maine. As she learned about the real-life settings and people behind such fiction as 'IT' and 'Salem's Lot,' she arranged them into an online map and story she called 'Stephen King's Maine.' 'It was amateur hour, in a way,' she says. 'But after around 27,000 people visited the site one of my friends said to me, 'You should do something more with this.'' Published in 2024, the resulting book-length edition of 'Stephen King's Maine' is among hundreds released each year by The History Press. Now part of Arcadia Publishing, the 20-year-old imprint is dedicated to regional, statewide and locally focused works, found for sale in bookstores, museums, hotels and other tourist destinations. The mission of The History Press is to explore and unearth 'the story of America, one town or community at a time.' The King book stands out if only for its focus on an international celebrity. Most History Press releases arise out of more obscure passions and expertise, whether Michael C. Gabriele's 'The History of Diners in New Jersey,' Thomas Dresser's 'African Americans of Martha's Vineyard' or Clem C. Pellett's 'Murder on Montana's Hi-Line,' the author's probe into the fatal shooting of his grandfather. A home for history buffs Like Kitchens, History Press authors tend to be regional or local specialists — history lovers, academics, retirees and hobbyists. Kitchens' background includes writing movie press releases, blogging for the Portland Press Herald and contributing to the Huffington Post. Pellett is a onetime surgeon who was so compelled by his grandfather's murder that he switched careers and became a private investigator. In Boulder, Colorado, Nancy K. Williams is a self-described 'Western history writer' whose books include 'Buffalo Soldiers on the Colorado Frontier' and 'Haunted Hotels of Southern Colorado.' The History Press publishes highly specific works such as Jerry Harrington's tribute to a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor from the 1930s, 'Crusading Iowa Journalist Verne Marshall.' It also issues various series, notably 'Haunted' guides that publishing director Kate Jenkins calls a 'highly localized version' of the ghost story genre. History Press has long recruited potential authors through a team of field representatives, but now writers such as Kitchens are as likely to be brought to the publisher's attention through a national network of writers who have worked with it before. 'Our ideal author isn't someone with national reach,' Jenkins says, 'but someone who's a member of their community, whether that's an ethnic community or a local community, and is passionate about preserving that community's history. We're the partners who help make that history accessible to a wide audience.' The History Press is a prolific, low-cost operation. The books tend to be brief — under 200 pages — and illustrated with photos drawn from local archives or taken by the authors themselves. The print runs are small, and authors are usually paid through royalties from sales rather than advances up front. History Press books rarely are major hits, but they can still attract substantial attention for works tailored to specific areas, and they tend to keep selling over time. Editions selling 15,000 copies or more include 'Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee,' by Lloyd Arneach, Alphonso Brown's 'A Gullah Guide to Charleston' and Gayle Soucek's 'Marshall Field's,' a tribute to the Chicago department store. The King guide, which has sold around 8,500 copies so far, received an unexpected lift — an endorsement by its subject, who was shown the book at Maine's Bridgton Books and posted an Instagram of himself giving it a thumbs-up. 'I was genuinely shocked in the best possible way,' Kitchens says, adding that she saw the book as a kind of thank-you note to King. 'Every choice I made while writing the book, I made with him in mind.' Getting the story right History Press authors say they like the chance to tell stories that they believe haven't been heard, or were told incorrectly. Rory O'Neill Schmitt is an Arizona-based researcher, lecturer and writer who feels her native New Orleans is often 'portrayed in way that feels false or highlights a touristy element,' like a 'caricature.' She has responded with such books as 'The Haunted Guide to New Orleans' and 'Kate Chopin in New Orleans.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Brianne Turczynski is a freelance writer and self-described 'perpetual seeker of the human condition' who lives outside of Detroit and has an acknowledged obsession with 'Poletown,' a Polish ethnic community uprooted and dismantled in the 1980s after General Motors decided to build a new plant there and successfully asserted eminent domain. In 2021, The History Press released Turczynski's 'Detroit's Lost Poletown: The Little Neighborhood That Touched a Nation.' 'All of the journalist work that followed the story seemed to lack a sense of closure for the people who suffered,' she said. 'So my book is a love letter to that community, an attempt for closure.' Kitchens has followed her King book with the story of an unsolved homicide, 'The Murder of Dorothy Milliken, Cold Case in Maine.' One of her early boosters, Michelle Souliere, is the owner of the Green Hand Bookstore in Portland and herself a History Press writer. A lifelong aficionado of Maine history, her publishing career, like Kitchens', began with an online posting. She had been maintaining a blog of local lore, 'Strange Maine,' when The History Press contacted her and suggested she expand her writing into a book. 'Strange Maine: True Tales from the Pine Tree State' was published in 2010. 'My blog had been going for about 4 years, and had grown from brief speculative and expressive posts to longer original research articles,' she wrote in an email. 'I often wonder how I did it at all — I wrote the book just as I was opening up the Green Hand Bookshop. Madness!!! Or a lot of coffee. Or both!!!'
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sikes Senter sale, firefighters benefits on City Council agenda
Wichita Falls city councilors will discuss the recently revealed plan to buy Sikes Senter when they meet on Tuesday, but not in public. The meeting is set for 8:30 a.m. in the Seminar Room of the MPEC, 1000 Fifth St. The meeting is open to the public except for the executive sessions, and is livestreamed on the city's Facebook page. Two executive closed-door items are "negotiations with a third party (including, but not limited to, the purchase and/or value related to 3111 Midwestern Parkway)," which is the address of Sikes Senter. The agenda said deliberation in open session would have a detrimental effect on the position of the city in negotiations. The second item is "to discuss or deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect" the City Council seeks to locate here. The agenda said that closed-door talk would be "including, but not limited to, an economic development update and 3111 Midwestern Pkwy." After Sikes Senter merchants received notice of the sale on July 24, Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce CEO Ron Kitchens confirmed the city's Economic Development Corporation was in contact with the owners of Sikes Senter to buy the 60-acre property and sell it to an undisclosed Dallas developer to bulldoze the present building and create retail "clusters." Kitchens said the site would also include space for a stadium to be leased to Midwestern State University. Kitchens said the stadium would be built with philanthropic donations and money from the Texas Tech University System. A university spokesperson on Wednesday said Texas Tech would not contribute funding to the project. A public hearing on the Sikes Senter plan is set for 2:30 p.m. Aug. 14 in Room 10 of the MPEC, 1000 Fifth St. Items the council will consider in open session on Tuesday include approving the "Funding Soundness Restoration Plan for the Wichita Falls Firemen's Relief and Retirement Fund" and increasing the city's contribution rate to the fund from 17.5% to 18%. Councilors will also consider awarding a contract for the 2025 Water Budget Utility Improvement Project & Large Valve Replacement to Bowles Construction for $1,049,599. Other business will include: Spending $64,500 with CLAW Contractors, LLC to construct a dog park at 1200 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Buying mowers for the Parks Department for $51,874.26. Buying new carpet for the library for $326,368 and new shelves for $60,225. Accepting a grant from the Priddy Foundation for $55,000 for new shelves at the library. Approving plans for the annual Block Grant from the federal government. Buying a pair of garage doors from Tex-Oma Building Supply for $66,200. More: Sikes Senter's replacement might resemble this Metroplex shopping center More: Roaches on the counter, dishes in the mop sink in latest inspections This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Sikes Senter sale, firefighters benefits on City Council agenda Solve the daily Crossword
