Pope County, Arkansas: Little Rock author Rhona Weaver kicks off the list of authors speaking at the Pope County Library System in September. Weaver, the author of the mystery series FBI Yellowstone Adventures, will visit Dover Public Library on September 2 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm. To create the series, Weaver, a retired swamp and farmland appraiser, draws on her love of the land and admiration for the men and women in our law enforcement community who share a noble calling and serve as park rangers, FBI agents, and first responders.
Dr. Bob Crossman, a Russellville High School graduate and member of the Butterfield Overland National Historic Trail Association, will speak at Atkins Centennial Library about the history of Atkins and its connection to the Butterfield trail, which ran from Memphis to San Francisco and was designated a National Historic Trail in 2023. Crossman’s talk is scheduled for Saturday, September 13, at 1:00 pm at the Atkins library. Crossman is the author of six books and multiple articles about the Butterfield trail.
Nationally-best-bestselling, Edgar Award-winning author and former football player and coach, Eli Cranor, will kick off the new
Reel and Read Book and Movie Club on Tuesday, September 16, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the Pope County Library in Russellville. Cranor will discuss his new mystery novel,
Mississippi Blue 42. Eli Cranor is Writer in Residence at Arkansas Tech, where he also lends his expertise to the university's football team, an experience he mined while drafting his latest novel.
The Pope County Genealogy Group will welcome Dr. Peter Dykema on Thursday, September 18, at 5:30 pm for a talk about the German land and German people. He will focus on the movement of peoples and the shaping of ethnic identity over time. Dr. Dykema, a scholar of medieval and early modern European history, is a professor of history at Arkansas Tech University and is the recent recipient of the ATU Faculty Aware of Excellence in the service category.
Michael Schwarz, documentary filmmaker and co-author of Abandoned Arkansas: An Echo From the Past, will visit the Pope County Library in Russellville on Thursday, September 25, at 5:30 pm, to discuss his work uncovering the forgotten stories of historic buildings and the communities around them. Through documentaries like Forever Majestic about Hot Springs’ Majestic Hotel and his ongoing series about Pine Bluff’s dramatic decline and potential rebirth, Michael connects audiences to the human side of architectural history. His films have reached millions of viewers on YouTube, sparking conversations about preservation, memory, and what’s at stake when places are left behind.
Each talk is free and open to the public.
