On Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. at Gibson’s Bookstore, Kelly Kilcrease and Yvette Lazdowski will share their history of Manchester’s massive shoe industry, and how it shaped the city’s landscape, in Manchester’s Shoe Industry.
Famous for its dominance in textile production, Manchester was also affectionately called “Shoe City.” More than 70 different shoe companies once called Manchester home, and thousands of area residents worked tirelessly to produce some of the best-known shoes in America and throughout the world. The largest manufacturers were the F.M. Hoyt Shoe Company, maker of Beacon Shoes, and the granddaddy of them all, the McElwain Company, known for its popular brands, including the iconic Thom McAn shoes. Kilcrease and Lazdowski reveal how these and other Manchester-based shoe shops were vital to the area’s economic and employment prosperity, especially among the immigrant population, as well as how the McElwain Company was an integral part of the Melville Corporation, known today as CVS.
On Wednesday at Gibson’s, the Poetry Society invites you to an evening of verse, headlined by poets Robert Crawford and Midge Goldberg, at 5:30 p.m. All are welcome, newcomers are encouraged.
Crawford is a two-time recipient of the Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award and the 2011 winner of the Richard Wilbur Poetry Award for his collection The Empty Chair. His poems have appeared in First Things, Measure, Forbes and many other national publications.
Goldberg was the recipient of the 2016 Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award for her poem “Tennis Practice Against the Garage Door.” In addition, she received the 2015 Richard Wilbur Poetry Award for her book Snowman’s Code, (University of Evansville Press), chosen as the 2016 New Hampshire Literary Awards Reader’s Choice Award for Outstanding Book of Poetry. She is a longtime member of the Powow River Poets, holds an M.F.A. from the University of New Hampshire and has taught at several colleges and poetry conferences in the Northeast. She lives in Chester with her family, two cats and an ever-changing number of chickens.
On Thursday, New York Times bestselling children’s author Karina Yan Glaser sweeps into Gibson’s Bookstore to present her new Vanderbeekers novel, The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue. This series is perfect for fans of The Penderwicks and Front Desk.
For the Vanderbeeker kids of Harlem’s 141st Street, spring break couldn’t be off to a better start. Isa’s back from band camp, Oliver’s building his first-ever treehouse in the backyard of the brownstone, and Laney, Jess and Hyacinth are excited to help their mother when she gets the once-in-a-lifetime chance to star in a cooking magazine.
But the Vanderbeekers’ plans go off the rails when an unexpected visit from city officials puts their mother’s bakery in jeopardy. Now they’ll have to band together to save the day before they’re out of business.
About the author: Karina Yan Glaser is the New York Times bestselling author of The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street and The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden. A former teacher and a contributor to Book Riot, Karina lives in Harlem, New York City, with her husband, two daughters and assortment of rescued animals. One of her proudest achievements is raising two kids who can’t go anywhere without a book.
Gibson’s Bookstore
