February 19, 2007
Another STL Book: "St. Louis"
Simply titled, "St. Louis" jumped off of a bookshelf at Webster University's Emerson Library recently. Though I didn't pick it up at first, I rounded back, remembering my foolish notion of reading every title of local interest. (Well, almost every title.) This one, a 1977 product of the New Horizons imprint of the Franklin Watts press, was part of a series of urban selections, which included looks at historical Pittsburgh, Detroit and other cities.
Edited by Selwyn Troen and Glen Holt, the book's a compilation of readings from throughout St. Louis' history, including both original, source texts and selections from looks-back at local lore. Organized chronologically, the book begins in the late 1700s - with the expected blend of Spanish, French and Indian influences - and ends in the 1970s - highlighted by conversations about Pruitt-Igoe and the meaning of the Gateway Arch.
In a sense, then, the book's a precursor, of sorts, to the excellent, near-comprehensive "Seeking St. Louis" of a couple years back. In terms of heft, "St. Louis" is a mere fraction of that work and some of the pieces have essentially been repeated since, but this slim, 1977 piece isn't a bad primer, at all. I'll be keeping a look out for it at Dunaway Books in the future.