Contact: Mary Gilbert, A. L. Brourman Associates, Inc.
412-963-0574 ms.gilbert@verizon.net
For Immediate Release
Taliesin Announces tours, book Readings, signings on Sept. 27 with Loving Frank author Nancy Horan
Horan, in first visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s home since book’s publication, will read passages on Taliesin at corresponding tour sites
Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisc., August 25, 2008……Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s private home and architecture studio, has scheduled an exclusive series of public tours, book readings and book signings on Saturday, September 27, with New York Times-bestselling author Nancy Horan. Her 2007 debut book Loving Frank told the story of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his amorous, but doomed, relationship with Mamah Borthwick Cheney, who perished with her children at Taliesin in 1914 in a fire set by a deranged employee.
Taliesin and its construction figure prominently in Horan’s book, and the tours will be tailored to reflect those scenes, including the bedroom that Wright and Cheney would have shared, the study where Cheney would have done her writings and translations on early feminism, and the garden. (Although the living quarters were destroyed in the 1914 fire and in a subsequent blaze in 1925, Wright rebuilt them according to the same design.) Horan will read excerpts from her book at each of the referenced locations. Leading the tours with Horan will be Keiran Murphy, the historian of Taliesin Preservation, Inc., which is the steward of the National Historic Landmark property.
“I’m looking forward to this event, for we’ll be doing something that Wright had in mind when he designed and built the house for Mamah,” Horan said. “He often had cultural gatherings in his home where artists read their work and traveling musicians performed. I think that these specially designed public tours will enrich my reading of the book, and my reading of the book will enrich the tour experience.”
The schedule for the day is:
9:30 a.m. Registration at the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center for the 10:00 a.m. tour 10:00 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Tour of Taliesin with Horan and Murphy
11:30 a.m. Registration at the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center for the 1:00 p.m. tour
12:00 p.m. Lunch and private book signing at the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center
1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Tour of Taliesin with Horan and Murphy
4:00 p.m. Free reading and public book signing at the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center
Each tour is limited to 21 participants, and reservations are required. The fee is $129, which includes either the morning or afternoon tour, and the lunch and private book signing at noon. The reading and book signing at 4:00 at the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitors Center is free and requires no reservations. For more information and to make a reservation, call Taliesin Preservation, Inc., at 877-588-7900.
Murphy lauded Horan’s characterization of Cheney and her influence on Wright during a pivotal time in his career as a compelling backdrop for the tours.
“To be at Taliesin today and also to imagine it at its beginning through the creation of this gifted author will be a unique experience for the tour participants,” Murphy noted. “Ms. Horan represented Mamah in a way that no one has done previously, as a fully fleshed human being.”
Horan, who will be returning to Taliesin for the first time since her book was published, credits the early tours she took there for inspiring her work on the historical novel.
“I toured Taliesin several times over a 10-15 year period in the 1990s and early 2000s while researching my book, “Horan noted. “The tour guides then conducted marvelous tours, which enabled me to enrich my descriptions of the landscape. From my own standpoint, I’m sure that this visit will refresh my memories and that I’ll see things that I hadn’t noticed before,” she added.
About Taliesin Preservation Inc.
Taliesin Preservation, Inc. was created to preserve the buildings, artifacts, landscape, and legacy of Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s home in Wisconsin. America’s premier architect and Wisconsin’s native son considered Spring Green his home, and he built an environment both beautiful and inspirational. In partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., it is the mission of Taliesin Preservation, Inc. to conserve the masterful buildings and landscape of the Taliesin estate, and to educate the public on Wright, his architecture and his ideas. More information about Taliesin is at www.taliesinpreservation.org.
About the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is a global forum for multi-disciplinary discourse about the future of the built and natural environments, promoting education, scholarship, design and research. Through programs designed to educate, inspire and motivate diverse audiences, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation advances dialogue and action to improve the quality, longevity and conservation of the built and natural environments while preserving the works and philosophies of Frank Lloyd Wright for the benefit of future generations. Wright established the Foundation, headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., in 1940 to be the repository of his life’s work. The Foundation owns and operates: Taliesin in Spring Green, Wis., and Taliesin West in Scottsdale (Wright’s own homes and studios); the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture; and the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives. Both Taliesin and Taliesin West are National Historic Properties and are on the United States World Heritage Tentative List. More information about the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is at www.franklloydwright.org.
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