Some years ago -- good lord but it has been over a decade now -- I took a detour in life. On that detour, I ended up writing a book about Mystic, Connecticut, where I lived for a time. The book, A History of Mystic, Connecticut: From Pequot Village to Tourist Town, was published by The History Press, which was later acquired by Arcadia Press. It's not an academic book. I wrote it because I wanted to and because it was something that I wanted to read. I aimed it at a general audience of tourists who would visit the town and who, like myself, might want an overview of its history with lots of pictures.The cover photo was taken by my friend, Steven Sisk, who was also one of the gardeners at Mystic Seaport. I liked the unintended visual pun in that the trees in the background occupy the site of the Pequot village from 1635 and the ships in the foreground are at Mystic Seaport, one of the main attractions for tourists.
In any case, I'm rather proud of the book because it was something new and different from what I usually did and pretty. Over the years I've done a few book signings but really saw the whole experience as a thing of my past. Then, earlier this year, Martin Smith, a literature professor and author of similar books, contacted me to do a roundtable about the history of Mystic. Well, that was a surprise! Sure!
So, on Saturday, August 18th, the Groton Public Library -- where I spent quite a bit of time -- will host a "Local History Author Roundtable" from noon until 2 pm. The list of authors is quite extensive, including me, Martin Smith, James L. Streeter, Lou Allyn, Hal Keeler, Courtney McInvale, William Tischer, and Jade Huguenin. (I do believe I worked with more than one of them when I did the Christmas Lantern Tours and the Haunted Tours of Mystic Seaport, two of the roles on my rather limited acting resume of that period of my life.)
The Groton Public Library, by the way, is not too far from Mystic itself, and has better parking.
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