On Wednesday, December 3rd - 7:00-9:00pm, we're pleased to have renowned Native American artist and author, Lawney Reyes join our ABFAS Holiday Celebration with his book B Street: The Notorious Playground of Coulee Dam.
B Street is based largely on the first-hand memories of the author and tells of hard times, dreams, and extreme courage while also revealing the humor, toughness, and recklessness of the adventurers who came to work on the dam. He also describes the history and culture of the Indians whose villages were flooded and whose way of life was irrevocably changed by the building of the Grand Coulee Dam.
B Street tells intimate stories about the street of shops, restaurants, bars, and brothels where the workmen who built the Grand Coulee Dam spent their recreational hours and wages. From the beginning, B Street was the place to play and let off steam for the white workingmen who had faced the hard times of the Depression. It was a raucous playground that denied blacks and most dark-skinned Indians access to the frivolity, good times, and pretty ladies that were the main attractions of that provocative place.
As a young boy Lawney Reyes wandered B Street with his little sister, Luana, and their dog, Pickles, while their Indian mother and Filipino father eked out a living running a Chinese restaurant. His mother's diary and the stories told by his parents and older members of the Sin-Aikst tribe contribute to his story.
With prominent sculptures throughout the Seattle area as well as throughout the world, Lawney Reyes has won numerous awards. In Washington State he has been honored with The Governor's Art Award for sculpture and The Peace and Friendship Award. Visit Lawney Reyes on-line: http://www.lawneyreyes.com
Buy a SIGNED copy of B Street - $18.95
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