History Speaks - Author Jim DeFelice West Like Lightning: The Brief Legendary Ride of the Pony Express

Jim DeFelice, author of West Like Lightning: The Brief, Legendary Ride of the Pony Express will be giving a special presentation via Zoom. Please register below to receive the Zoom link to the presentation. While researching the Pony Express in 2016, DeFelice drove the famous trail, stopping to visit libraries, museums, and speak with historians along the way. DeFelice will discuss his book and the research that went into it, and answer any questions you might have about the famous mail system cut short by the telegraph.

This is one of 4 programs Jim DeFelice will be giving in St. Joseph on April 1 and 2.  KFEQ Radio, the Pony Express Museum, Rolling Hills Library and SJPL are all hosting programs.  Friday, April 1: KFEQ 100th Anniversary Luncheon at the Pony Express Museum (tickets are required and can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/272228190847; Friday, April 1 at 6:30 p.m. presentation at Rolling Hills Library (Belt Branch Upper Story); and Saturday April 2: a book signing at  the Pony Express Museum.

“In his popular history, West Like Lightning: The Brief Legendary Ride of the Pony Express,  DeFelice resurrects the heroes of the Old West to recreate the sweeping drama of the American frontier's most audacious enterprise: the legendary Pony Express.  A meticulous researcher, DeFelice drove the entire, nearly two thousand mile stretch of the original Pony Express trail from Sacramento, California to St. Joseph, Missouri in 2016. Along the way, he talked with museum curators, local historians, and historical reenactors of the Pony Express Association, and tracked down original documents to convey the full scope of the historic enterprise against the wider background of the U.S. Postal Service, American finance, the Gold Rush, and the impending Civil War. The book was a Finalist for the Western Writers of America’s 2017 Spur Award.”