A long-awaited children’s biography of William Allen White will hit bookstore shelves on Tuesday.
Becky Smith, owner of the Town Crier bookstore at 716 Commercial St., said about 200 copies of “From Emporia: The Story of William Allen White” would arrive at the store on Monday and go on sale Tuesday. Author Beverly Buller, a middle-school librarian in Newton, will sign copies Sept. 8 at the Great American Flea Market.
“I have special orders already for about 20 copies, and that’s just the people in the know, who know it’s coming out,” Smith said. “I have about 200 copies and if I happen to run out come the White awards, I can get more. But 200 should get me through the next crisis.”
The signing will begin at 10 a.m. on Sept. 8 at the store. Another author signing will be held on Sept. 29 as part of the William Allen White Children’s Book Awards.
Buller announced “From Emporia” last March during the inauguration week for Emporia State University President Michael Lane.
She began writing about the Pulitzer Prize-winning Emporia Gazette publisher about three years ago after realizing that there weren’t many works about him for young readers.
“I’ve taught for 30 years and I realized in my first year of teaching that we needed a book about him,” she told The Gazette in August. “Kids always want to do a history report on him and I’d think ‘William Allen White! Good luck!’”
White was publisher of The Gazette from 1895 to 1944. His family still owns the paper.
The title of the book comes from White’s first editorial in The Gazette where he introduced himself to the readers by saying this author “hopes to always sign ‘From Emporia’ after his name when he is abroad. ...’”
The book is published by Kansas City Star Books and is aimed at fourth-grade readers and older. it is illustrated with a wide range of material, including doodles drawn by his daughter Mary when she grew bored in class.
During her visit last March, Buller read from a chapter dealing with the death of Mary in a riding accident as a teenager. White’s editorial on her death, “Mary White,” became one of his best-known writings.
Smith said the title would not be allowed to go out of stock.
“This is something we will carry forever,” she said. “It will go on the shelves, right next to his little autobiography.”
The book is 112 pages and printed in color. It runs $24.95 in hardcover and $19.95 in softcover.