Join us for a a Power Point presentation and book signing by author and historian Marty Podskoch and his book, The Connecticut 169 Club: Your Passport and Guide to Exploring Connecticut.

This travel book encourages travelers to visit all of the towns and villages of our beautiful and unique state. The 169 Club will be in the same format as Marty’s popular Adirondack 102 Club.

The idea for the travel club guides began after Podskoch read about Dr. Arthur Peach in the December 11, 2005 issue of American Profile Magazine.  Dr. Peach, in a story in Vermont Life magazine, suggested the idea of an informal group, the 251 Club, to veer off the beaten path “…to discover the secret and lovely places that main roads do not reveal.” He felt that every part of Vermont had its beauty, history, attractions, traditions, and interesting people.

After writing five books about the Adirondacks he decided to do a travel book to get people to visit all 102 towns in the Adirondacks. The result was his Adirondack 102 Club: Your Passport and Guide to the North Country in 2015.

Marty Podskoch was a teacher in the Catskills and came to Conn. in 2005. He decided to write a book on the Connecticut CCC camps. He traveled to over 100 towns in Conn. where he gave talks on the CCC and people shared their stories and photos. His Connecticut Civilian Conservation Corps Camps: History, Memories & Legacy of the CCC was published in 2016.

As he traveled throughout the state he marveled at the great diversity of villages, cities, rivers, lakes, mountains, and seashores. He realized that most of the residents of the state had not traveled as widely as he had and he wanted them to explore his beautiful state.

He created a book to be a guide and a passport. Podskoch got someone from each town to write a short description highlighting their town’s location, history, and interesting places to visit. Podskoch did this because local residents knew more about their town than he. The book has a space for travelers to journal about their experiences and a place to get the book stamped or signed by a resident or business.  Travelers will get to know the locals and perhaps learn about a good place to eat or an interesting local attraction. In this way they get to know a lot about Connecticut and its residents.

There is no membership fee, just a desire to experience all of Connecticut. Adults and children of all ages can be members. What a great adventure for families, grandparents, and their grandchildren, or go by oneself. Most members will travel by car while others might use a bike, motorcycle, or maybe a canoe!

People who visit all 169 towns will receive the “Leatherman Award” patch at a luncheon or dinner held at a different town each year. The award is named after the vagabond who lived in caves and traveled a route regularly (approx. 34 days) from the Connecticut River to the Hudson River during the late 1800s.

After Podskoch’s talks he and some of the writers and co-writers of the book will be available for a book signing. The hard cover 8.5 X 11 book has 376 pages with hundreds of photos & maps and sells for $29.95.

Please register!

Off the Tracks: A Meditation on Train Journeys in a Time of No Travel

Train travel is having a renaissance. Grand old routes that had been canceled, or were moldering in neglect, have been refurbished as destinations in themselves. The Rocky Mountaineer, the Orient Express, and the Trans-Siberian Railroad run again in all their glory.

Pamela Mulloy has always loved train travel. Whether returning to the Maritimes every year with her daughter on the Ocean, or taking her family across Europe to Poland, trains have been a linchpin of her life. As COVID locked us down, Mulloy began an imaginary journey that recalled the trips she has taken, as well as those of others. Whether it was Mary Wollstonecraft traveling alone to Sweden in the late 1700s, or the incident that had Charles Dickens forever fearful of trains, or the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt trapped in her carriage in a midwestern blizzard in the 1890s, or Sir John A. Macdonald’s wife daring to cross the Rockies tied to the cowcatcher at the front of the train, the stories explore the odd mix of adventure and contemplation that travel permits.

Thoughtful, observant, and fun, Off the Tracks is the perfect blend of research and personal experience that, like a good train ride, will whisk you into another world.

Pamela Mulloy is the author of two novels, including As Little As Nothing (2022). She is the editor of the New Quarterly and director of the Wild Writers Literary Festival. She has lived in the UK, Poland, and the US. She now lives in Kitchener, Ontario.

Please register; Zoom links will be sent out before the event.

Join us for a moderated conversation with Marcia Zug, to discuss her illuminating and thought-provoking examination of the uniquely American institution of marriage, from the Colonial era through the #MeToo age, You’ll Do: A History of Marrying for Reasons Other Than Love.

Americans hold marriage in such high esteem that we push people toward it, reward them for taking part in it, and fetishize its benefits to the point that we routinely ignore or excuse bad behavior and societal ills in the name of protecting and promoting it.

In eras of slavery and segregation, Blacks sometimes gained white legal status through marriage. Laws have been designed to encourage people to marry so that certain societal benefits could be achieved: the population would increase, women would have financial security, children would be cared for, and immigrants would have familial connections.

As late as the Great Depression, poor young women were encouraged to marry aged Civil War veterans for lifetime pensions. The widely overlooked problem with this tradition is that individuals and society have relied on marriage to address or dismiss a range of injustices and inequities, from gender- and race-based discrimination, sexual violence, and predation to unequal financial treatment.

One of the most persuasive arguments against women’s right to vote was that marrying and influencing their husband’s choices was just as meaningful, if not better. Through revealing storytelling, Zug builds a compelling case that when marriage is touted as “the solution” to such problems, it absolves the government, and society, of the responsibility for directly addressing them.

Marcia Zug is a family law professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and The Yale Law School. Her previous book, Buying A Bride, explored the history of mail order marriage in the United States. She lives in Columbia, SC with her husband and two daughters.

Please register; Zoom links will be sent out before the event.