Meet the candidates; meet the author

Destinations Booksellers is giving candidates a way to reach out and meet the public with a planned Candidates’ Forum on April 26, followed by an exciting author event. Both events will be held at the Carnegie Center for Art & History in New Albany. The location has been changed to meet the demands of the anticipated crowd.

“This is an important primary for local, state and even national races,” said Randy Smith, proprietor of Destinations Booksellers, 604 E. Spring in New Albany. “We are unaware of any other forum for candidates to meet the public prior to the Indiana primary on May 6. We wanted to provide a forum for thoughtful conversations and a way to help the public come to an educated decision about who they will choose to run for public office.”

Following the forum, the bookstore will host Ray E. Boomhower, a noted scholar, historian and author of the book “Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary,” at 7 p.m. He will speak and then sign copies of his book, which debuted in March, and is being published by Indiana University Press.

Both events are free and open to the public.

The April 26 events will begin at 6 p.m. Candidates for office will be invited to set up at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany beginning at 5 p.m. Destinations requires that all candidates who want to participate call or e-mail by April 16 so that the organizers can accommodate everyone who wants to be involved. To make a reservation, call Destinations at (812) 944-5116, or e-mail the store at ops@destinationsbooksellers.com.

At 7 p.m., Ray E. Boomhower will speak about his book, which marks the 40th anniversary of the 1968 primary. On April 4, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., arrived in Indiana to campaign for the Indiana Democratic presidential primary. As Kennedy prepared to fly from an appearance in Muncie to Indianapolis, he learned that civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot outside his hotel in Memphis. Before his plane landed in Indianapolis, Kennedy heard the news that King had died.

Despite warnings from Indianapolis police that they could not guarantee his safety, and brushing off concerns from his own staff, Kennedy decided to proceed with plans to address an outdoor rally to be held in the heart of the city's African-American community. On that cold and windy evening, Kennedy broke the news of King's death in an impassioned, impromptu speech on the need for compassion in the face of violence. It has proven to be one of the great speeches in American political history. Boomhower explains what brought the politician to Indiana that day and explores the characters and events of the 1968 Indiana Democratic presidential primary in which Kennedy had a decisive victory.

Boomhower is senior editor of the Indiana Historical Society Press’s quarterly magazine “Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History.” Boomhower is the author of numerous articles for Traces and such history journals as the Indiana Magazine of History and Michigan History. His books have included biographies of Indiana historian Jacob Piatt Dunn Jr., nationally known columnist Juliet Strauss, suffragette and peace activist May Wright Sewall, World War II photographer John A. Bushemi, astronaut Gus Grissom, Civil War general and author Lew Wallace, and World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle.

For more information, contact Destinations Booksellers at (812) 944-5116 or ops@destinationsbooksellers.com.