Sad News about Gail Lee Martin

Gail Martin shows copies of her new book, My Flint Hills Childhood (photo courtesy of The El Dorado Times newspaper)

Gail Lee Martin passed away from a heart attack on January 17, 2013. She fell breaking a hip in December.

You can read her obituary online and leave a message in the guestbook.

She was 88 years old. Three more books were in the works. Collaborating with her daughter, Virginia Allain, she was collecting material for a book about her aunt’s life as a missionary in Alaska, a book about her great-grandfather in the Civil War and a book about her own life that would follow-up My Flint Hills Childhood.

Live Radio Interview with Gail Lee Martin

Announcement from Gerald Brazil:

“This Thursday, November 3rd, at 9 am Central Time, Phil Johnston will be doing his Greenwood County history program on KOTE-FM. I expect that it will be one of his best.

Phil will be talking about the book, “My Flint Hills Childhood: Growing Up in the Flint Hills of Kansas” by Gail Lee Martin.

Gail grew up in the 30’s in the oil fields of Greenwood County and her book paints a very real picture of the time and place. This is a background very similar to Phil’s own personal history so I am sure it holds special meaning for him. In addition to discussing the book I understand Phil is going to be having a live phone conversation with Gail.

Gail’s book is not only well written, it is beautifully and professionally crafted with black and white photographs integrated with the text. Gail’s book won the 2010 Kansas Authors Club’s Ferguson Kansas History Award.

So remember, visit KOTE-FM’s “listen online” at 9 AM (Greenwood County Time/Central Time Zone). Just click on “listen live.”

Vintage On The Air Microphone by bluewren08

Gail’s Second Book – Clyde Owen Martin

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This free digital scrapbooking design made with Smilebox

Gail’s Fans

Gail Lee Martin has a fan page on Facebook. You can LIKE it if you want to keep up-to-date on what she is working on now.

One new fan is Gerry Brazil who wrote to her, saying “I just received a copy of your book from the Butler Co. Museum. This is without a doubt the best personal history book I have ever found! I am having the museum send a copy to someone who does a radio program on Greenwood County history. I am also having them send copies to friends who are working on a family history.  Your book may help inspire them.”

Book Award Winner

At the Kansas Authors Club convention in October, the 2010 Ferguson Kansas History Book Award was announced. My Flint Hills Childhood by Gail Lee Martin was the winner!

V for Victory by carlj56
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Preview Gail Martin’s Second Book (paperback now available)

Clyde Owen Martin by Gail Lee Martin | Make Your Own Book

Books on Display

Gail Lee Martin’s books are the featured display at the Bradford Memorial Library in El Dorado, Kansas until May 15th. You can visit the library at 611 S. Washington. You’ll see the display as you enter the library’s lobby. It contains a large banner and her two published books:

• My Flint Hills Childhood: Growing up in 1930s Kansas
• Clyde Owen Martin: Family Memories of His Life and Times

Gail’s books on display

A Promo for Gail’s Books

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The Book Signing in Peabody

Book Store in Peabody, KS

Arriving in Peabody we drove around looking for the Jack Rabbit book store and found it on the west side of the main block in town. Catty-corner was an old bank building made into a cafe. So after a few minutes driving through the residential part of town and admiring the houses built probably around the turn of the century, many are being restored to their original glory, we stopped at the old corner bank building cafe and were able to have my old time favorite, “hot beef sandwich.”

Then we went across to Jack Rabbit Hollow book store. It is so much more than a book store it is the bright spot of the town. What a lovely welcome from the owner. She not only has a book store, which is much more than a book store, it is a shop for gifts; prepackaged soups, desserts and drinks; home and yard decorating with everything anyone would want.

Since this was her Christmas Open House as well as our book signing, she had set up a snack table with a crockpot of one of her packaged soups; desserts from her packaged mix as well a hot cider and some sort of tea all beautifully arranged in a front corner of her very crowded shop. She had us tucked in next to the refreshments with small fold out tables for us to put our books.

My, oh my, as the town people trickled in we were so busy visiting and telling about our books the time just flew by. Now and then there would be a crowd of 4 or 5 people and Cindy would open her book and read one of her poems or I would read a paragraph. Mostly I just opened my book to a certain story and show it to them & explain a little.

As the name of the store implies there were rabbits everywhere! But the greeter at the door was a big, yellow tomcat that thought everyone came to see him.

One lady came from El Dorado to see us as she had missed the signing at the museum. We came back home a different way and came down past old number 8 school and the farm where we used to live. All that has changed so much because of widening the highway.

PS I want to go back and look at all of Pam’s goodies and spend some money that I was too excited to do when we were there. Lovely old town!

Book Club Guide Available Online

If you belong to a book club, suggest to the group that they read My Flint Hills Childhood. There’s a book club guide online with ways of using the book with a group. It includes sample discussion questions. There are several videos with the online guide about facilitating a book discussion. Also included in the guide are additional activities for the book club that relate to the book like having members bring vintage items from the 1930s to share in a show-and-tell format.

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