Stephen Silverman, author of The Catskills: Its History and How it Changed America, will be the featured speaker at the Third Annual John Burroughs Spring Lecture Saturday, April 2 at 4 p.m. at the Catskill Center for Conservation & Development, 43355 State Highway 28, Arkville, 12455.
The free talk is co-sponsored by John Burroughs' Woodchuck Lodge and CCCD. Refreshments will include cake to celebrate John's 179th birthday. (He was born April 3, 1837 in Roxbury.)
Silverman's book, published by Knopf in 2015, includes a chapter about Burroughs' role in the region and his relationship with another famous Roxbury native son, railroad tycoon Jay Gould. Burroughs was also a friend of industrialists Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone, shown here on a camping trip with the naturalist.
In 406 pages of text and color images, Silverman tells the story of the Catskills, from Native Americans to famed Borscht Belt entertainers, farmers and quarrymen, artists and gangsters, and many others. The Anti-Rent War, the coming of the railroads, the development of NYC reservoirs and other episodes in the region's storied past are recounted.
The book will be available for purchase at Saturday's program.
FMI: 845-586-2611; 845-254-6025