Highlights Archives
Much to Celebrate in 2012 Society Press Books
Wisconsin history — via the pages of Wisconsin Historical Society Press books — reached a statewide and even a national audience in 2012. From Hayward to Spring Green, Lambeau Field to the Bark River, and Boston to Los Angeles, thousands of readers took an increased interest in the history that Wisconsin Historical Society Press authors had to share last year. Of the 15 books, 24 e-books, and three audio books the Society Press published 2012, five celebrated national attention.
- 'Return to Wake Robin: One Cabin in the Heyday of the Northwoods Resorts' by Marnie Mamminga, which earned a Publishers Weekly Starred Review and was recommended by "Parade Magazine" to its 63 million readers in June 2012
- 'Green Bay Packers: Trials, Triumphs, and Tradition' by Bill Povletich, which launched at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, in July and has since been promoted to Packer fans nationwide, most frequently in California where three book events have been held.
- 'Bottoms Up: A Toast to Wisconsin's Historic Bars & Breweries' by Jim Draeger and Mark Speltz, who were interviewed in The New York Times in December 2012 and who hosted book events statewide, including at featured taverns like The DMZ Bunker in Waterford, pictured above
- 'The Bark River Chronicles: Stories from a Wisconsin Watershed' by Milton Bates, whose history-filled venture down this small Wisconsin waterway was recaptured for National Public Radio by reporter Jacki Lyden in October 2012
- 'Building Taliesin: Frank Lloyd Wright's Home of Love and Loss' by Ron McCrea, which The Boston Globe and publications throughout the Midwest reviewed — and which the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and Wright sites throughout the United States heavily endorsed
Three of the books — "Return to Wake Robin," "Bottoms Up" and "Green Bay Packers" — proved so popular that initial printings sold out within months of publication and required immediate reprints. In addition, the e-book version of "Return to Wake Robin" sold hundreds of copies throughout the United States, the most sales recorded to date since the Society Press began publishing e-book editions in 2011.
Other Popular General Interest Titles
Other titles of general interest proved popular with readers and received widespread positive reviews.
'Nuestra Historia en Español'
Also in 2012, the Society Press also expanded its history outreach to another new audience when it published a Spanish-language version of its definitive fourth-grade state history textbook, "Wisconsin: Our State, Our Story," titled, 'Wisconsin: Nuestro Estado, Nuestra Historia.' The translation, completed through a partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools, was made possible by a grant from the Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation of Milwaukee. In addition, the Society Press published other books geared toward the state's younger readers including 'The Great Peshtigo Fire: Stories and Science from America's Deadliest Firestorm' by Scott Knickelbine, and two Badger Biography Series books: 'Les Paul: Guitar Wizard' by Bob Jacobson, and 'Joyce Westerman: Baseball Hero' by Bob Kann.
:: Posted January 7, 2013
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