‘Worst Hard Time’ first selection for group

A new book club – supported by a $3,000 grant from the Friends of the Coeur d’Alene Public Library – will meet for the first time at the library, 702 E. Front Ave, on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 10 a.m.

The first book selected for the Public Library Pageturners to discuss is “Worst Hard Time,” by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Tim Egan.

Copies of the book can also be checked out by visiting the Research and Information Desk at the library, said Katie Sayler, current chair of the Library Board of Trustees and an organizer for the book club. Participants who want to make notes in their books or to pass copies on to friends or families can purchase their own copies from other sources.

“This is something that the library staff has wanted to do for some time,” Sayler said, “so we have decided to do it with volunteers.”

She said the Friends grant is intended to fund books for up to 11 monthly book club sessions. Twenty copies of book selected each month will be purchased for the library. After they have been discussed, the books will be retained as “book club totes,” and along with discussion notes will then be made available for other clubs to check out.

The discussion leader for “Worst Hard Time” on Sept. 23 will be Dr. Katherine Aiken, Dean of College of Letters and Science at the University of Idaho, who will provide background information about this depression era work.   

In the book Egan tells the epic story of the dust storms that terrorized America’s High Plains.  He conveys the impact on communities who chose to stay on their homeland while stricken with fear and choked with dust in the ’30s. “Worst Hard Time” was a New York Times Editor’s Choice, the National Book Award Winner for 2006 and a Washington State Book Award winner.

A Seattle resident, Egan is the Idaho Humanities lecturer for their October 8 dinner in Coeur d’Alene.  He is a national enterprise reporter for the New York Times.  He is the author of five books and the recipient of several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize.

News about the library and other city departments is also available on the City of Coeur d’Alene news blog: http://cdacity.blogspot.com/.