Feb
18
BGSU Firelands Professor to Release Book on Hometown
February 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Huron, Ohio – Larry Smith, professor emeritus of English at Bowling Green State University, is poised to release his newest addition to a growing collection of books on his hometown.
Mingo Junction available through Arcadia Publishing in their Images of America Series, provides a rich photographic history of this working-class town in the upper Ohio River Valley where Smith was born and raised. The book is co-authored by his longtime friend and fellow graduate of Mingo Central High School Guy Mason.
Featuring more than 200 vintage images and memories, the book traces the town’s history back to the Mingo Indians and transports the readers through its early days as a coal mining town and eventually a regional leader in the steel industry. The Ohio city was also a location for the filming of 1978’s award-winning movie The Deer Hunter.
The town’s deep character is etched in its work, social, cultural, and natural landscapes. This is displayed in its schools, churches, businesses and industry, daily life, active social organizations, and its notable historic figures. “Authoring the book was a job I couldn’t refuse,” Smith stated, “a way to honor my hometown.”
Smith’s experiences as a steel worker in Mingo Junction in the 60s supplied him with a unique and first-hand knowledge of the area and community. Now retired, he also claims former careers as a high school teacher and college professor. He is currently director of the Writing Center at BGSU Firelands, and editor -in-chief of Bottom Dog Press, Inc., Huron, Ohio.
A graduate of Kent State University, Smith is the author of eight books of poetry, a book of memoirs, four books of fiction, two literary biographies, a life biography, and two books of translations from the Chinese. His two others books featuring Mingo Junction are Milldust and Roses: Memoirs and The Long River Home: A Novel.
Smith is the father of three adult children, and is married to Ann Smith, also a native of Mingo Junction, a professor emerita of Nursing at the Medical College of Ohio.
Mingo Junction is available beginning February 21 at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com or (888)-313-2665. A portion of the sales of the book will be donated to the Mingo Senior Citizen Center.
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