Betty Weibel - The Ohio Literary Trail A Guide

FOREWORD

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

No one knows for sure the exact source of that quote (its been attributed to Saint Augustine). Whoever said it, its a wise and wonderful thought. And perfectly suited to The Ohio Literary Trail: A Guide, for its all about books andtravel!

In her preface, Betty Weibel has shared the genesis of how this book came to be: our conversation in early 2020 about the ninetieth anniversary of the first Nancy Drew mysteries by Toledo writer Mildred Wirt Benson (the original Carolyn Keene). As it happened, the Ohioana Library Association, just the year before, had celebrated that same milestone. Since its founding in 1929 by Ohio first lady Martha Kinney Cooper, Ohioana has been dedicated to collecting, preserving and celebrating Ohio literature. Through its collection, events and publications, Ohioana connects readers and Ohio writers and promotes the Buckeye State as one of the great literary centers of our nation.

Ohio has had a robust literary culture since its early years as a state. It continues to shape and influence literature on a global scale. Some of the worlds greatest writers have called Ohio home at one time or another. Theyve often spoken of the states impact on their lives and careers. Lorains Toni Morrison won nearly every literary award imaginable, culminating in the Nobel Prize. When Morrison came to Columbus in 1988 to accept the Ohioana Career Medal, she expressed her heartfelt indebtedness to her home state: Ohio is paramount in so much of my work. My gratitude to you and fellow Ohioans is profoundnot only for the award but for the gift to my imagination.

Another writer, Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Doerr, wrote to Betty Weibel about his Ohio roots and how they influenced him:

Ohio has been instrumental to everything about my life, of course, as all home places are. Growing up in Geauga County made me who I amI learned to work hard, to pay attention to nature, to be loyal, to drive in the snow, to rake leaves, and the simple pleasure of reading a book under a tree.My dad ran a small business in Chagrin Falls for decades and taught me so much about persistence, hard work, risk-taking, relationships, kindness, humor, and how to stay loyal to the Browns. My mom taught at a Montessori school in Cleveland Heights, and then at University School in Hunting Valley, and to describe how important she has been to my writing in such a small space would be impossible. But heres a try: first and foremost, she was and is a reader.My mom, together with the local library, helped me fall in love with books.

National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson was born in Columbus but moved out of state with her family when she was only one year old. Yet her tie to her birthplace remains strong: I still say that Im Buckeye to the Bone. Ohio was my first home. My dad, aunt, and cousins are all still there. I love that I can claim the Midwest, the South, and Brooklyn as home, and in each place, some part of me is infinitely grounded.