Author Talk: Jerry Harrington

Thunder From the Prairie: The Life of Harold E. Hughes

Join us for a presentation and conversation with author Jerry Harrington at the Marion Public Library. Jerry is the author of the book Thunder From the Prairie: The Life of Harold E. Hughes.

Book description

Hughes, a charismatic politician whose leadership changed state government and politics, lived in tumultuous times for both the nation and the Hawkeye State. He was a recovered alcoholic. As governor in the 1960s, Hughes dramatically modernized state government and boldly plunged into controversial issues, such as liquor by the drink, the Amish school conflict, and racial conflict in Iowa. As U.S. senator from 1969 to 1974, he created the first national effort to aid alcoholics and was a leading voice against the Vietnam War and U.S. military deception. He briefly toyed with running for the presidency. A handsome man gifted with a powerful voice, Hughes was the essential definition of a leader, taking progressive stands that changed Iowa for the better. He also shocked his followers by leaving politics at the end of his single Senate term to enter the lay ministry and help other alcoholics.

About Jerry Harrington

Jerry Harrington of Iowa City retired several years ago as marketing public relations manager for DuPont Pioneer, Johnston, Iowa, following a career at several Iowa newspapers and three public relations agencies in Cedar Rapids; Rochester, N.Y.; and Milwaukee, Wis. He received a B.S.S. from Cornell College in English and political science and an M.A. in history from the University of Iowa.

Since retiring, he’s been writing Iowa history. He has twice won the George Mills/Louise Noun Award from the Iowa State Historical Society for his series “Governors of Influence” and “Carrie Chapman Catt” as the most significant articles on Iowa history in a popular history journal. Both series were published in Iowa History Journal. In 2018, he won honorable mention in the academic article category for “Iowa’s Last Liquor Battle: Governor Harold E. Hughes and the Liquor-by-the-Drink Conflict,” published in the Annals of Iowa.

He has also written two books, Crusading Iowa Journalist Verne Marshall: Exposing Graft and the 1936 Pulitzer Prize, and Thunder From the Prairie: The Life of Harold E. Hughes. The latter has recently been published by the University Press of Kansas.

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