Published: November 05, 2009 08:23 pm         

'An Evening with Tom Roznowski' at library

TERRE HAUTE — Always a fedora worn low on the forehead. A suit and white dress shirt that conveys an age that has passed most people by. Tom Roznowski lives and breathes the times past.

At 7 p.m. Nov. 14, the “Hometown” public radio and television creator will speak at the Vigo County Public Library at Seventh and Poplar streets.

The program, “An American Experience Comes Home: An Evening with Tom Roznowski,” is designed to allow the Terre Haute community a chance to meet and talk with Roznowski at a reception starting at 7 p.m.

The library will offer a glass of wine and appetizers. At 8, Roznowski will speak about his new book and follow up with book sales.

Bringing the past to life with stories from the avenue, and tales of the notorious and the respected are blended together as Tom relates accounts from his new book, “An American Hometown: Terre Haute 1927.”

Indiana University Press published the book on Nov. 1.

Author, performer, creator, musician are all hooks that Roznowski could hang his hat on. In some of his performances, he plays the guitar, the piano and sings. He composes both words and music for some of his recordings. Billboard magazine calls him “part beat, part zoot suit, part Mark Twain, with a lyrical grasp of Americana both wry and sensitive.”

Currently living in Bloomington, Ind., he has played and sung all over the United States and has spent some time in Europe.

The Hometown series with Tom Roznowski was made possible through a grant from the Hollie and Anna Oakley Foundation of Terre Haute. It first aired on radio in October 1995. The television special “Hometown: A Journey Through Terre Haute, Indiana” was nominated for an Emmy.

For more on Roznowski, visit www.tomroznowski.net to listen to songs and some of the radio broadcasts.

This is the first time the library has initiated such a program, said Nancy Dowell, director of the VCPL. “We had a number of people suggest in our public meetings that we should charge for special events programs.”

The program is $25 with a paid reservation in place by Thursday. Call (812) 232-1113, Ext. 303, to make your reservation.

Checks should be mailed to Vigo County Public Library, 1 Library Square, Terre Haute IN 47807.

The money from the program will go toward the Special Collections Department. The library has several microfilm tapes with historical Terre Haute newspaper and magazine information, and the collection is deteriorating.

The library must have the microfilm digitized before they fall apart.

The fundraiser will assist the library in securing the needed funds for the project.