CARBONDALE—Southern Illinois University’s Morris Library will be the site for the next Black Oak Media authors book signing Tuesday, 1 to 3 p.m. on the first floor Rotunda.
The Black Oak authors have been holding combined book signings for the holiday season, and their books, signed and personalized, make great gifts and stocking stuffers. The Black Oak Media authors are:
Angela Mason, author of Death Rides the Sky: The Story of the 1925 Tri-State Tornado. This book remains the most comprehensive account of the four books written on the subject of the most devastating tornadic storm ever to occur on U.S. soil. While weather, disaster and history aficionados are familiar with the Tri-State Tornado, many are still unaware of this terrible storm, even though it went right through their own backyard, right here in southern Illinois on March 18, 1925. This book tells the stories from the people who experienced it–survivors from every town stricken by the storm from southeastern Missouri to southwestern Indiana–and has input from weather experts past and present as well as a shocking ending involving an allegorical tale discovered by the writer as the research into the book was wrapping up.
Bruce Cline, author of History, Mystery and Hauntings of Southern Illinois I and II. Cline’s books are individual accounts of historical places in southern Illinois that have legends surrounding them based on the paranormal…and he has the personal experiences to back up what he has published. A founder of the Little Egypt Ghost Society based in Carbondale, Cline’s meticulously-researched books provide entertaining, enlightening and often chilling anecdotes of places and legends based in southern Illinois (the “618 area code,” as he specifically calls it) and are accompanied by photo presentations of places and things both well-known as well as little known.
Kale Meggs, author of 99 Nooses. Between 1779 and 1896, ninety-eight men and one woman were legally executed by hanging in the State of Illinois. Some were innocent, but most were guilty. Their crimes shocked the small farming communities and developing towns of 19th century Illinois. 99 Nooses weaves a tapestry of colorful prose based on hundreds of painstakingly researched historical documents. Many of these stories have not seen the light of day for over two generations. Read about the crimes that shocked yesteryear, including: Wapikinamouk, a vengeful Delaware Indian who was hanged for murdering a frontiersman. Nathaniel Van Noy, who scientists attempted to revive after execution using grisly techniques. John Ott, who was hanged for killing women and children in what became known as the Tazewell County Massacre. The story of the Haymarket anarchists. And many more.
Below are the Black Oak authors from Saturday’s event at the West Frankfort Public Library; from left, Kale Meggs, Bruce Cline and Angela Mason (with Jade at the far right, as she assists her mom, Ang, with sales to customers)
Come on out and join the Black Oak authors; and if you can’t make it to this one, come to the Genkota Winery in Mt. Vernon, Ill., next week (Dec. 12) from 5 to 7, where they’ll be with the Southern Illinois Writer’s Guild’s holiday event there.