On Thursday, September 27, the library will host an event in a series of ongoing lectures related to the Greenwood Library’s archival and special collections. This event will feature Dr. Mike Lund, professor of English at Longwood University, and author of the Route 66 novels. Dr. Lund will speak in the Atrium of the Greenwood Library at 3:30 p.m. on a topic that relates to both the Library’s rare book collection and its collection of faculty publications. The title of Dr. Lund’s presentation is “Ice-Skating in Charles Dickens’ Novel, The Pickwick Papers, and Motoring along in the Route 66 Movie, Cars.” Charles Dickens’ popularity with a mass audience was launched through the serialization of his first novel, The Pickwick Papers. Charles Dickens’ story has inspired two interpretations of literary history, one based on the concept of the writer’s genius and another on the emergence of new readerships. Popular recent books and movies about historic Route 66 in America can similarly be explained as the product of individual talent or of forces reshaping American society.
Following the presentation, refreshments will be served in the Library’s Special Collections Room. Dr. Lund will be on hand to sign copies of his books, which the Barnes and Noble Bookstore will make available for purchase.
Greenwood Library’s first edition of The Pickwick Papers—in nineteen monthly parts—will be on display as well as the speaker’s Route 66 novels.