BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID;X-RICAL-TZSOURCE=TZINFO:-//com.denhaven2/NONSGML ri_cal gem//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:Did you grow up reading the &ldquo\;Little House on the Prair ie&rdquo\; book series? Or secretly yearn to be Laura Ingalls? If so\, j oin author Wendy McClure as she discusses her book\, &ldquo\;The Wilder Life: \; My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prai rie&rdquo\; on Saturday\, June 2\, at 6:30 p.m. at the Bel Air Library\, 100 East Pennsylvania Avenue in Bel Air. The lecture\, open to the publ ic and free of charge\, is followed by a book signing. \; \;&nbs p\; \; \; \; \;\nThe lecture is part of Journey Stories\ , a Smithsonian exhibit based at the Abingdon branch of the Harford Coun ty Public Library from May 19 to July 6 that examines the intersection b etween modes of travel and Americans&rsquo\; desire to feel free to prog ress and flourish\, voyage and explore. Various cultural opportunities i n conjunction with Journey Stories are being held in library branches an d activity centers across the county.\nIn &ldquo\;The Wilder Life\,&rdqu o\; McClure writes about her love of the &ldquo\;Little House&rdquo\; bo oks when she was growing up and how that love was rekindled as an adult. Retracing the pioneer journey of the Ingalls Family\, McClure heads wes t to the Big Woods of Wisconsin\, where Laura was born\; to the site of the original log cabin\, where a replica stands in its place\; to the cr owded shores of Plum Creek in Minnesota\; and to South Dakota\, where sh e weathers a hailstorm in a rented covered wagon.\nShe learns to churn b utter in her living room while catching up on episodes of the 1970s tele vision series\; catches a musical adaptation with Melissa Gilbert (who p layed Laura in the television version) in the role of Ma\; and enjoys a &ldquo\;Little House&rdquo\;-inspired cocktail called The Half Pint.\nMc Clure rekindled her love of the &ldquo\;Little House&rdquo\; books thank s to her finding &ldquo\;Little House in the Big Woods&rdquo\;&mdash\;th e only &ldquo\;Little House&rdquo\; book she actually owned as a child&m dash\;in storage and reading it again. Her boyfriend\, Chris\, found a v intage boxed set\, and McClure read through them within weeks. Her inter est in &ldquo\;Laura World&rdquo\; was sparked again.\n&ldquo\;It took m e a while to realize that my Laura journeys were a sort of response to m y mother&rsquo\;s death\,&rdquo\; explained McClure\, whose mother died as she was re-entering &ldquo\;Laura World.&rdquo\;\n \;&ldquo\;As a child I often imagined I was Laura\, so in re-reading the books and mak ing the trips I was embarking on all these indirect paths that eventuall y led me back to my own past. When you know that someone is gone\, you f ind yourself cultivating places in your memory where you can still feel that person&rsquo\;s presence\, and for me those places were very closel y associated with the &lsquo\;Little House&rsquo\; books.&rdquo\;\n&ldqu o\;The Wilder Life&rdquo\; has received praise in various circles\, incl uding from Alison Arngrim\, the actress who played Nellie Oleson in the &ldquo\;Little House&rdquo\; television series. She called the book &ldq uo\;a howling funny\, historically thorough and irresistibly mad trip do wn the rabbit hole of the Laura Ingalls-Little House obsession that has consumed an entire generation of women. I spent seven years on the prair ie\, and this book made me want to run out and buy a butter churn!&rdquo \;\nThe June 2 event will feature McClure discussing her travels through &ldquo\;Laura World&rdquo\; and how the trip and the book were more and less rewarding than anticipated. A question-and-answer session will fol low McClure&rsquo\;s remarks.\nA book signing will be held after the dis cussion. Hardback copies of &ldquo\;The Wilder Life: \; My Adventure s in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie&rdquo\; will be avail able for purchase for $20 (cash\, check\, credit card) at the event.\nTo register for the event\, call the Bel Air Library at 410-638-3151. For more information\, visit www.hcplonline.org.\nJourney Stories is part of Museum on Main Street\, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institu tion and the Maryland Humanities Council. \; The Journey Stories exh ibition and accompanying programs are offered to the public through a pa rtnership between Harford County Public Library and the Harford County D epartment of Community Services.\nHarford County Public Library operates 11 branches located throughout Harford County. The library serves more than160\,000 registered borrowers of all ages and has an annual circulat ion of more than 4.8 million. Harford County Public Library is committed to connecting people with information and promoting the love of reading within the community. URL:http://havredegrace.patch.com/events/wendy-mcclurethe-wilder-life SUMMARY:Wendy McClure/The Wilder Life LOCATION:Harford County Public Library: 100 E Pennsylvania Ave\, Bel Air\ , MD END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR