Steeltown USA up to 7000 copies with new printing

Youngstown State University has the privilege of housing the first academic program in the country to focus on issues of work and class–critical issues for our Valley in particular. The Center for Working-Class Studies was founded and is directed by John Russo and Sherry Linkon. I’m personally fortunate to call them neighbors and friends.

During the past year and throughout the election season, John and Sherry gave, literally, hundreds of interviews to national and international press talking about who the  working class are and what the polls about their attitudes toward the candidates represented.

They continue to emphasize the importance of place and the danger that comes with losing our collective memory. To combat this, they write a sort of people’s history of Youngstown, titled Steeltown U.S.A. I’ve quoted from the book in more than one post, talking about the environmental impact of our industrial legacy and, more recently, the relationship between arsons and the stripping away of communities.

First published in 2002, the book has had three hard cover and four paperback printings. With its announced seventh printing, the book’s circulation has reached almost 7000! John likes to say that Youngstown’s story is America’s story. That’s never been more evident, with the success of other books like The Great Depression: A Diary, whose editors say Steeltown offers a “passionate and thorough examination of how the boom and bust of the steel mills affected the city of Youngstown and its surrounding area.”

I heard John and Sherry give a presentation on Steeltown soon after we moved in next door, and I was profoundly affected. I have made every opportunity to hear them speak since, and I encourage you to pick up their book and meet them in person at these upcoming events:

Thursday, December 10th at Barnes & Noble in Boardman from 7pm-9pm.

Saturday, December 12th at Borders Bookstore in Eastwood Mall in Niles from 2pm-4pm.

While you’re there, ask John to tell you about when Bruce Springsteen called him and asked for a tour of Youngstown. And be sure to listen to Sherry Linkon on WYSU’s Lincoln Avenue on Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm.

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