Title: Book party
Author: Staff Writer
Publisher: Ruidoso News
Date: 5/14/09
Lyn Kidder and Herb Brunell will be signing copies of their new book, Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs, May 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Ruidoso Regional Council for the Arts, 1712 Sudderth Dr.
"There's nothing quite like a new book, and we just wanted to celebrate with some of the people who made it possible," Kidder said. Ruidoso "old timers" like Betty Bennett, Dave Parks and Eleanor Bonnell Shockey, will be honored guests at the party, and a slide show of images that didn't "make the cut" should inspire more reminiscences.
"We were so lucky that people were willing to share their stories and their family photos," Brunell said.
"Many of the pictures in the book have never been published."
The book is published by Arcadia Publishing, a company that specializes in the history of small towns.
"I'm hoping that this book will be an inspiration to someone in Capitan, Carrizozo, Lincoln or White Oaks to produce a book about their communities," Kidder said.
"Arcadia is very easy to work with and is a tremendous help in marketing the book."
"We're happy that we can have the party at RRCA," Brunell added. "A lot of the interviews and the work on the book were done there, so it's the perfect place."
"It really is the place where the idea first began," Kidder said. "In about 2004 or 2005, Brad Treptow, who was with the Chamber of Commerce, had the idea of a book to mark the 60th anniversary of Ruidoso's incorporation.
"A group of us met a few times at the Arts Council, but it was a big undertaking for a committee, so the idea was dropped. Then in March 2008, Arcadia contacted me and asked if I'd like to write a book for them. I knew I couldn't do it without help on the photographs, and Herb was the perfect person. Thank heavens he agreed to do it."
The book, Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs, is available at Atticus Books and Tea Shop, Josie's Framery, the Hubbard Museum of the American West, Brunell's, the Billy the Kid Scenic Byway Visitors Center and Books Etc.
Title: Book Briefs
Author: Ashely M. Biggers
Publisher: New Mexico Magazine
Date: September 2009
Known primarily as a place in the cool Sacramento Mountains to escape the summer heat and as a winter skiing getaway, them town of Ruidoso has a rich history, and this
recent title in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series captures it well. Like all books in the series, this one is devoted to historic photos of the area, and includes more than 200 of them. As noted in the extended captions accompanying the images, in the past two centuries the area has been home to the Mescalero Apaches, Buffalo Soldiers from nearby Fort Stanton, Billy the Kid, outdoorsmen, business people, and gambling enthusiasts (before and after gambling was legalized) who placed their bets at what is now Ruidoso Downs racetrack. (Read more in "The Dash for Cash," page 46.) Authors Lyn Kidder and Herb Brunell both live in Ruidoso. A set of 15 postcards featuring historic images from Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs is also available ($7.99).
