The Jackson Purchase Historical Society (JPHS) will meet on at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 18, 2025, at the National Quilt Museum (NQM) located at 215 Jefferson Street in Paducah, Kentucky. NQM curator Rachael Baar will speak on Gee’s Bend Quilts: Past, Present, and Future, based on the current museum exhibition, Whiles I Yet Live: Matriarchy and Generational Exchange in Gee’s Bend. All JPHS meetings are free and open to the public. For this meeting, NQM is offering a $10 discounted group rate for admission to the museum exhibits, including the Gee’s Bend show, following the meeting. Since the 19th century, quiltmakers from the rural African American…

Book tours and talks are rituals publishers schedule for authors to generate book sales. Authors often say they are exhausting and can be frustrating when the turnout is small and/or resulting book sales are disappointing. I view book talks differently. I love dams, and every dam has a story. I focus on talks near places that played an important role in my book. Selling books is not my primary goal. I try to paint a historical picture emphasizing the local connection with events depicted in my book that audiences can relate to and enjoy—a story they will remember and pass…