Preparing for an important event
This week, I will be preparing for one of my biggest events to date. I’ll be traveling to Chicago, then on to Ottawa, Illinois for a book signing for Radium Halos. Why Ottawa, Illinois? Because this is the town where the true events of my novel actually took place.
I recently learned of the plans for a memorial statue to honor the Radium Girls– young women factory workers who worked at The Radium Dial Company in the 1920s, engaging in a dangerous, deadly practice. Glow-in-the-dark clocks and watches were extremely popular in those days, and the dangers of radium were unknown. Not only were the young factory workers using paint made from radium to paint the watch and clock dials, their supervisors showed them a new method to increase production- dipping the brush into the paint, then between their lips for a sharp point.
To honor these young women for enduring radiation poisoning, cancers, and litigation which lasted several years, sculptor William Piller of Mendota, IL, is creating a bronze statue. To raise funds for the statue, Laborers Local 393 will hold a fish fry on Friday night, October 29 in Ottawa. My book signing will be part of the event.
While I am in Ottawa, I will also be speaking to the students at Ottawa Township High School about the dial painters and my research. I also plan to discuss writing and finding a publisher for my novel.
For each book sold at the fundraiser, including any additional book orders (if we sell out), I will be donating one dollar toward the memorial statue.
I am greatly looking forward to this event!
