Kansas Curiosities : Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities and Other Offbeat Stuff

by Pam Grout

• ISBN13: 9780762723294
• ISBN10: 0762723297
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2002-09-01
• Publisher: Globe Pequot

Summary

Prominent humor writers, columnists, and media personalities comb their home states for the most wacky and outrageous people, places, and things in this sassy series of state almanacs-gone-astray. Discover what's really great about a given state -- places overlooked on school field trips, people with odd and amazing talents, history that was left out of the books, a wealth of weird wonders most residents never dreamed existed.This is a guide to the state where residents can easily claim "there's no place like home" -- as readers peruse these pages they'll find there certainly isn't! Learn how to join in the Ugly Toro Contest and the Kazoo Parade; where to meet Martha the bowling ball and Big Brutus, the largest steam shovel; and which restaurant specializes in mashed potatoes -- it's all they serve.Whether readers were born and raised in Kansas or are a recent transplant or visitor, Pam Grout's home-grown humor will have them laughing out loud as she introduces the neighbors they never knewthey had and takes them to places they never knew existed -- right smack in the middle of the grand old U.S. of A.

Author Biography

Author Pam Grout grew up in Kansas, and once had a dog named Toto. Back in 1977 she helped set up the state's first tourism department (Kansas was the last of the 50 to have one), and has been an avid promoter since. A frequent contributor to People magazine, she has also written for Travel & Leisure, Family Circle, Outside, and Modern Maturity among other periodicals, and is author of six books. In between her travels with her daughter, she conducts creativity workshops.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vi
About the Author	vi
Introduction	vii
More Powerful than a Locomotive More Liberal than California	xi
Northeast	1	(42)
Lawrence	43	(30)
Southeast	73	(40)
South Central	113	(40)
North Central	153	(40)
Northwest	193	(38)
Southwest	231	(37)
Index	268