MEET THE AUTHORS!

Meet these fine authors at The Book Bank Booth on the midway at Miami, AZ's Boomtown Spree - A celebration of our mining history!

SATURDAY & SUNDAY - APRIL 19TH & 20TH, 2008

Spirits in the Mountain by William Johnson & Michael Johnson

Jacob Waltz – known today as The Lost Dutchman – was a man who spent a great deal of his life keeping a secret that would one day make his life an open book. Adolf Ruth – did he wander off in the wilderness in 1931 and die a natural death – or was he murdered? The Peralta Stone Tablets were discovered sticking out of the ground near the highway in 1949 by a family vacationing in Arizona. Are they fake or are they fact? Authors and brothers, Bill and Michael Johnson, believe they have discovered the answers, which they’ve compiled into their newly released book - SPIRITS IN THE MOUNTAIN: Very, Very Dangerous. Find the Heart. Find the Treasure. Meet these authors at The Book Bank on Saturday and Sunday, April 19th and 20th, during Miami’s Boomtown Spree.

History of Arizona's Clifton-Morenci Mining District byTed Cogut & Bill Conger

The Clifton-Morenci Mining District can lay claim to many “firsts” in the history of copper mining in Arizona:

the first copper ingot smelted
the first mine railroad
the first concentrator
the first to treat porphyry ores successfully

Read about the changing technology of copper mining, from the earliest days in the underground to the era of open pit mining, in History of Arizona's Clifton-Morenci Mining District. Meet Ted & Bill at The Book Bank Booth on the midway at Miami's Boomtown Spree on Saturday, April 19th!

Plants of the Sonoran Desert, Foods of the Superstitions & Flat Cactus Jack by Don Wells and Jean Groen

Don and Jean have real heart for the Sonoran Desert. Together they have authored three books about our beautiful desert and its many useful plants. When they’re not writing about the desert, they’re conducting classes, giving lectures, leading hikes, and teaching people how to cook with desert plants. These wonderful people are on a mission to encourage people of all ages to love and care for the desert. Meet Don & Jean at The Book Bank Booth on the midway at Miami's Boomtown Spree on Saturday, April 19th!

Mother Magma: A Memoir of Underground Life in the San Manuel Copper Mine by Onofre Tafoya

Onofre “Taffy” Tafoya’s commitment to mining and hard work, and his love for the “best of people” gave birth to his written testament - Mother Magma: A Memoir of Underground Life in the San Manuel Copper Mine. Here, in words and pictures, the author takes us inside the San Manuel Copper Mine to witness the never-before told story of one of the most productive mines in the world. Be "lowered" into this amazing world and experience through the author’s eyes the intense and admirable endeavors of a courageous group of men who work inside the entrails of Mother Earth. Tafoya describes the dangers of underground mining and minces no words about how men died. Meet Mr. Tafoya at The Book Bank Booth on the midway at Miami's Boomtown Spree on Sunday, April 20th.

When Silver Was King by Jack San Felice

Fighting fierce Apaches and intense desert heat, four prospectors found a fortune in silver just four miles north of present-day Superior, Arizona. In fact, they discovered a real “king” of a mine back in 1875, aptly naming it the Silver King, which soon became one of the most famous mines in Arizona, indeed, in all the west. The Silver King’s riches provided prosperity for many of the Arizona Territory’s early pioneers, as well as the catalyst for settling the Central Arizona Territory. Meet the author of When Silver Was King at The Book Bank Booth on the midway at Miami's Boomtown Spree on Sunday, April 20th.