An Iowan author will be featured next Friday at the Pearl Button Museum Friday, Oct. 6.
Megan Bannister, author of Secret Iowa: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure will talk about her book. Her book is all about places in Iowa you may not normally know about.
Megan Bannister
“Each chapter of Secret Iowa: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure begins with a question,” Bannister said. “A few include: Where can you find the only remaining Frank Lloyd Wright-designed hotel in the world? Learn more about it and plan a weekend getaway to stay at the historic property; Why did the Los Angeles Lakers pay to build a basketball court in the small town of Carroll? Discover the story of how heroism and heart have connected this small town with one of basketball’s biggest franchises; and what animal did 15,000 children help buy for the Iowa State Fair? Dive headfirst into some little-known stories about Iowa’s largest annual event.”
There are 84 places in the book including The National Pearl Button Museum in Muscatine is featured in the book as well as the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum in LeClaire.
“I’ve visited all 84 places included in the book at some point or another,” Bannister said. “During the writing process, I did quite a few additional site visits, delved into newspaper archives and even chatted with local historians over the phone and email to learn about the secrets included in this book.”
This is Bannister’s second book she has written.
“In total, it took about nine months for me to write Secret Iowa: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure,” Bannister said. “During that time I visited places across the state to decide which spots would make the cut, did lots of research, captured and sourced photos, and, of course, wrote the final manuscript.”
Her favorite part of working on this project was learning new things about what is in Iowa. She started with a list of places she thought she might include, but ended up with way more secrets and interesting tidbits about places across the state than she could fit into one book.
Bannister’s book is available at any bookstore and at online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You can also order a signed copy at SecretIowa.com.
The Pearl Button Museum is located at 117 West Second Street in Muscatine. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. except for Sundays and Mondays when the museum is closed.
