Many of the best stories never make it into the history books. Roy Behrens has made it a personal mission to research, collect and share Iowa stories in danger of being lost, and that’s what he does in his latest book. Dreams of Fields: Memory Traces of Iowa’s Past is a collection of stories that range from family history to the likes of Salvador Dali and Ralph Waldo Emerson spending time in the Hawkeye state. Behrens will be at the Hearst Center for the Arts in Cedar Falls on Aug. 17 from 2-3 p.m. for a reading.
Then, our Iowa Famous series continues with RAYGUN founder Mike Draper. In 2005, Draper was an Ivy League graduate with a history degree, selling funny t-shirts in Philadelphia. He decided to continue his t-shirt enterprise in Des Moines — and the rest is history. Now, he’s not just Iowa Famous, he has conquered the Midwest with six stores in Iowa, two in Nebraska, one in Kansas City, Missouri and one in Chicago. They'll also be opening a store in Madison, Wisconsin in September.
Guests:
- Roy Behrens, professor emeritus of graphic design, University of Northern Iowa, author, Dreams of Fields: Memory Traces of Iowa’s Past
- Mike Draper, founder, RAYGUN
