Having a gas of a time at the Wisconsin Book Festival

If you live near Madison and like books, then you probably know that the Wisconsin Book Festival is going on right now. If you live near Madison, like books, and gas stations too? Well then, you’re really in luck!

The good folks at the Wisconsin Historical Society Press are hosting a fabulous book launch party at Parman’s Service Station on Saturday, October 18, 2008. The event starts at 10:00 am. Parman’s is located at 3502 Monroe Street in Madison. For more info, click here.

We’ll be set up in the service bays ready to share some stories and more importantly, coffee and donuts. If you are not familiar with the scene at Parman’s, you’ll enjoy this short clip from the companion Wisconsin Public Television documentary, Fill ‘er Up: The Glory Days of Wisconsin Gas Stations. Click on the seventh segment.

If you’re busy Saturday, you can find us Sunday at the Wisconsin Historical Museum at 30 N. Carroll Street at 4:00 pm. For more information, click here.

We’ll hope to see you this weekend.

Keep in touch

Jim and I have officially begun promoting the new book and a whole series of events are taking place between now and the end of the year. You can view an updated list here at the Wisconsin Historical Society Press Fill 'er Up webpage.

During a recent promotion, we mentioned that individuals could reach us on the blog...and you certainly can. Sign up and post if you'd like! But you can also reach us by email at [jim.draeger@wisconsinhistory.org] or [mark.speltz@americangirl.com].

We'll look forward to hearing from you.

Picture perfect

Photographing almost sixty gas stations spread throughout the state of Wisconsin is no small task. Just finding them all can be challenging. Thankfully, this task was entrusted to a skilled photographer, Mark Fay.

Mark logged over 5,000 miles capturing each of the stations in their present condition. His beautiful color photographs are a wonderful addition to Fill ‘er Up: The Glory Days of Wisconsin Gas Stations. Jim and I are grateful for his contribution.

An exhibit of Mark’s work, including some of the gas station images, is currently on display at the Eau Claire public library. An Exhibit of Photography is on display through October 14, 2008.

And speaking of Eau Claire, we'll be doing a book event there October 9, 2008. We’re hoping to post a list soon of all of the book events taking place. In the meantime, you can view a list of some of our upcoming events at the Wisconsin Historical Society Press website.

We’ll look forward to sharing the book and meeting you at an event this fall.