August 21, 2019 – (Key West, FL).Key West Art & Historical Society welcomes “Storm of the Century” author Willie Drye as Distinguished Speaker Series Guest
On Thursday, September 26, from 6:00PM – 7:00PM, Key West Art & Historical Society welcomes Distinguished Speaker Series guest Willie Drye, author of “Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935,”to the Helmerich Research & Learning Center on the third floor of the Custom House Museum, 281 Front Street. Drye will discusshow he originally came to write about the 1935 hurricane, the people he met in the course of his research, and the hurricane itself. He will also present his newly released “Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 – Revised Edition,” updated with additional details about the hurricane of 1935, along with a new chapter devoted entirely to Hurricane Irma, which struck the Keys in 2017.
Drye, also author of the IPPY Award-winning “For Sale-American Paradise: How Americans Were Sold an Impossible Dream in Florida,” has been a reporter and editor for more than 35 years and has written extensively about hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and other topics for National Geographic since 2003. The original “Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935,” published in 2002 and now out of print, is regarded by many as the definitive account of the devastating category 5 storm that made landfall Monday, September 2, 1935, destroying Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railroad and killing more than 400 people in the Florida Keys.
Sponsored by the Helmerich Trust, Marriot Beachside Hotel, and the State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, early ticket purchase is recommended. Distinguished Speaker Series presentation tickets are $5 for KWAHS members, $10 for non-members, and are available at kwahs.org, click ‘tickets.’ Your Museums. Your Community. It takes an Island.
Photo caption:
Hurricane expert and award-winning author Willie Drye is to appear as Key West Art & Historical Society Distinguished Speaker Series guest on Thursday, September 26. (Contributed photo)