Many thanks to the fifteen people who braved a chilly fall evening to attend this month's book discussion. And special thanks to Bernie and Shirley Gershon who brought in slides of a family cross-country trip they made forty years ago. It was enjoyed by all.
Our book this month was
The Big Roads: the untold story of the engineers, visionaries, and trailblazers who created the American superhighways by Earl Swift. We are all used to jumping on the L.I.E. to get to the city or the Hamptons, or on I-95 to drive to Boston or Washington. The highways had to be planned and built. This wonderful book tells the story of how engineers and transportation experts changed a tangle of unpaved roads into a nationwide interstate system. It was not without cost. City neighborhoods were split or destroyed. Small towns were isolated. Pristine open lands were paved and given over to chain restaurants and motels. But the system made it easy to drive just about anywhere in the country and created the suburbs we have today. Our discussion was very lively, covering the cost of progress, the history of cement, racism in choosing routes, artificial fuels, Robert Moses, railroads versus highways, mass transit and much more. It was quite an evening.
Our next meeting will be on Thursday, December 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm. The book to be discussed,
Hedy’s Folly: the life and breakthrough inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the most beautiful woman in the world by Richard Rhodes, is available at the Circulation Desk. All are welcome.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
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