Walks Around Akron arrives

Walks Around Akron, the book by Russ Musarra and Chuck Ayers, has finally arrived. A blog post on March 21 first announced the release of the book. Now here’s the latest word from Musarra:

“The book, printed in China, arrived by ship in Los Angeles August 27 and then began a cross-country train trip to Ohio - all but 100 copies that were flown here in time for our first signing at the Akron Road Rally preview party, 5:30 to 9 p.m. Sept. 6.

“Chuck and I hope are hoping our local friends and relatives will plug into one of our talks or signings, even if it's just to heckle. You out-of-town guys and gals will just have to invite us to your fair cities. The big events are a reception and signing at Summit County Historical Society, 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 28; our talk at Our Lady of the Elms' Author, Author luncheon Oct. 24; and the Buckeye Book Fair Nov. 3 in Wooster.”

Some of the others are:
Sept. 18 - 6:30 p.m. talk and signing at Maple Valley branch library in Akron.
Sept. 26 - 7 to 8:30 p.m. signing at Barnes & Noble in Montrose.
Oct. 6 - 1 to 3 p.m. signing at the Bookseller book store in Akron.
Oct. 7 - 1 to 3 p.m. signing at Stan Hywet OhioMart.
Oct. 10 - 1 p.m. talk and signing at Northwest branch library in Akron.
Oct. 20 - 1 to 3 p.m. signing at Borders on Howe Road near Chapel Hill.
Oct 27 - 2 to 4 p.m. signing at Borders in Fairlawn.
Nov. 9 - 6:30 p.m. signing at the Learned Owl book store in Hudson.
Nov. 17 - signing at the Blue Heron book store in Peninsula. Time to be announced.
You can email Russ at rmusarra@neo.rr.com

Here’s some information on the book we posted earlier:

Walks around Akron: Rediscovering a City in Transition celebrates the simple pleasure of seeing a community at a slow pace from ground level. In March 1987, the Akron Beacon Journal began publishing a series of articles about Akron and its environs, written by Russ Musarra and illustrated by Chuck Ayers. These popular essays-with-art continued in the newspaper through the end of 2000.

Anyone who enjoys walking or discovering overlooked sites will appreciate the informative charm of these stories and pictures that embrace Akron's history, its downtown and neighborhood development, its institutions and parks, and interesting nearby communities. Musarra and Ayers take the reader along to explore familiar and out-of-the-way places, whether it's Canal Park baseball stadium in the snow, a tiny cemetery in Copley whose graves date back as far as 1818, or a blue heron rookery in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. And readers can see all these things for themselves, using Walks around Akron as a guidebook for their excursions.

Russ Musarra retired from the Akron Beacon Journal in 2000 after thirty years of service. He edited the books Along the Towpath and Greetings from Akron with his colleague, Chuck Ayers, who illustrated the books. In addition, he wrote Akron Symphony Orchestra: Celebrating Our Fiftieth Anniversary Season and coauthored Sleep with the Angels.

Chuck Ayers began his career as a staff artist and editorial cartoonist at the Akron Beacon Journal. His cartoons have appeared in such newspapers as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Forbes Magazine. He cocreated the nationally-known comic strip, Crankshaft. In addition to illustrating Crankshaft, Chuck Ayers has also illustrated the books Along the Towpath and Greetings from Akron. He earned his bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Kent State University.

University of Akron Press
Akron, OH 44325-1703
Tel: 330-972-6953
271 pages, 7 1/2 x 9 1/2
Cloth 978-1-931968-42-3 $42.95
Paper 978-1-931968-43-0 $19.95