When John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960, he leveraged the power of state primaries to win the Democratic nomination. His first battleground state — Wisconsin — would prove more arduous, exhausting, and crucial to winning the presidency than any other.

In Wisconsin For Kennedy: The Primary that Launched a President and Changed the Course of History, award-winning author B.J. Hollars brings to life the stories behind JFK’s history-making Wisconsin primary campaign (which brought him to Superior in March 1960!), and on August 22 at 6 p.m., he’ll visit Superior Public Library and share those stories with us!

Learn about JFK’s nail-biting Wisconsin win and the people who worked together to make it happen. From Jackie Kennedy’s appearance at a Kenosha supermarket to the Wisconsin forklift driver to planned President Kennedy’s final trip to Dallas, you’ll love hearing these first-hand accounts of the Wisconsin people who helped propel JFK to the White House.

This event is free and open to all. Copies of the book will be available for purchase. Refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Library.

B.J. Hollars is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire and the founder and director of the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild. His books include Year of Plenty: A Family’s Season of Grief; Go West Young Man: A Father and Son Rediscover America on the Oregon Trail; The Road South: Personal Stories of the Freedom Riders; and Hope Is the Thing: Wisconsinites on Perseverance in a Pandemic. Hollars is the recipient of the Truman Capote Prize for Literary Nonfiction, the Anne B. and James B. McMillan Prize, and the Council of Wisconsin Writers’ Blei/Derleth Nonfiction Book Award. His work has been featured in the Washington Post and on NPR.