Museum Archive Inspires Local Author

Julia Park Tracey reading The Great Gatsby. Credit: Ed Jay
Julia Park Tracey reading The Great Gatsby. Credit: Ed Jay

Alamedan Julia Park Tracey will hold a launch party in the Art Gallery of the Museum Friday, January 9, 2015, 7:00- 8:30 pm, for her new novel, set in a fictional version of Alameda: “San Pedro Island.” The book is based on an old photo from the Alameda Museum showing early settlers digging up the shell mound on the island. It features Veronika Layne, a sassy tattooed, twenty-something newspaper reporter, who stumbles upon a big story — and has to beat deadlines as well as real estate developers before they destroy native burial grounds, all while mismanaging her love life.

The launch party will feature a reading from the novel and a talk about the role of early Alamedan settlers on our shell mound. Julia Park Tracey is the founding editor of the Alameda Sun newspaper and the current city Poet Laureate. She has written several books, including two historical biographies of her great-aunt, a 1920s flapper, The Doris Diaries. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter or at www.juliaparktracey.com.

The cover of Julia Park Tracey's new book; she will read from it at the Museum Friday January 9. Credit: Booktrope, designed by Melody Barber
The cover of Julia Park Tracey’s new book; she will read from it at the Museum Friday January 9. Credit: Booktrope, designed by Melody Barber