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Author Talk and Book Signing: “Robin Emery: Maine’s First Lady of Road Racing”
Date and Time
Thursday Jun 6, 2019
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EDTThursday, June 6 at 7 p.m.
Location
Jesup Memorial Library, 34 Mt. Desert St., Bar Harbor, ME
Fees/Admission
Free
Website
Contact Information
207-288-4245
Send EmailAuthor Talk and Book Signing: “Robin...Description
Robin Emery, who lives in Lamonie, is considered a pioneer in the sport of road racing in Maine, meet her and author Ed Rice who wrote, “Robin Emery: Maine’s First Lady of Road Racing” at a special author event at the Jesup Memorial Library on Thursday, June 6 at 7 p.m. Rice and Emery will speak about her incredible career and legacy.
Emery began running in 1967 when her nightly jog turned into a 4-mile run. When she started running, women were not allowed to race with men and there were no sports teams for girls in schools, but that was no deterrent. Emery persisted, trying a range of sports as a child from golf to football before establishing herself in the field of running. In many of her races, she was the only woman running and the organizers only reluctantly let her enter. In 1972, she was one of the first two women to run in the Portland Boy’s Club 5-miler, the oldest race in the state. While directors initially vetoed the women’s applications, they eventually allowed both women to race, and Emery went on to win the women’s division 13 times. Emery went on to integrate races around the state. She went on to inspire countless women and girls including Maine’s Olympic gold medal winning Joan Benoit Samuelson, who started running in 1974 and was the first woman to beat Emery in a road race. At 51, Emery had won more than 250 races in Maine, two national championships, and a 10th-place finish in the cross-country master’s division. Emery, now in her seventies, continues to run every day, 40 miles a week.
Rice grew up in Bangor and was a reporter for several daily newspapers, including the Lewiston Daily Sun and the Portland Press Herald and a theater critic and arts commentator for the Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram, Maine Times and Maine Public Broadcasting System’s “Maine Things Considered” on radio. He is the author of “Baseball’s First Indian, Louis Sockalexis: Penobscot Legend, Cleveland Indian” and “Native Trailblazer, Andrew Sockalexis: Penobscot Indian who Followed the Maine Running Path to Glory and Tragedy.” Rice is also an avid long distance runner who has run and completed 27 marathons and he created Bangor’s popular Terry Fox 5-K Run.
Rice and Emery are both members of the Maine Running Hall of Fame.
Books will be on sale that night courtesy of Sherman’s Books. For more information on the talk, contact the Jesup at 207-288-4245.Tell a Friend
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