LPWire: Walt's Barn to Host "Disney Author Day" March 21st

LPWire: Walt's Barn to Host "Disney Author Day" March 21st

Walt's Barn to Host "Disney Author Day"
Disney Legends & Historians to Sign Books at Historic Walt Disney Barn

The public is invited to meet & greet several authors who have written books on the subject of Disney, who will be the Special Guests of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society at Walt Disney’s Barn in Griffith Park on Sunday, March 21.

Scheduled to appear and sign are:

  • Michael Broggie, author of the rare “Walt Disney’s Railroad Story�?. Michael Broggie is nationally recognized as an authority on the life and legacy of Walt Disney. As an author and lecturer, he tours the country sharing his first person experiences with Walt Disney and many of the Disney Legends, who include his father, Roger E. Broggie, the first Disney Imagineer.
     
  • Peggy VanPelt, co-author of “Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show�?. Peggy Van Pelt, Ph.D., is a nationally known workshop leader and keynote speaker specializing in talent development and creativity. She has an extensive background in entertainment, working with Lorimer, Sony and Universal Studios as well as with the Disney organization where she worked as a staff artist and in management. Van Pelt has guest-lectured and taught classes in fulfilling creative potential at major universities and extension programs, including UCLA and USC. She is cofounder of Mosaic Consulting, Inc. and has written Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show with John Hench, Putting Your Talent to Work with Lucia Capacchione and contributed as an Imagineer to The Imagineering Way.
     
  • Buzz Price, author of “Walt’s Revolution by the Numbers�?. Fresh out of Stanford Business School, Price was asked by Walt Disney for some analytical numbers work that might help in planning and locating a place to build Disneyland. That event sparked a 50-year career of theme park consulting. He created a company that would evolve with technology and develop a new vocabulary for a budding industry. His new book Walt’s Revolution by the Numbers, takes you through the roller coaster math that discloses why Disneyland, and Walt Disney World work. While he was never employed with the Disney Company directly, he earned the Disney Legend Award in October 2003.
     
  • Kendra Trahan, author of the newly published “Disneyland Detective�?. Kendra Trahan is a CPHS Member and Regular Walt’s Barn Volunteer Crew Member. While living in Delaware, she missed the opportunity to visit Disneyland and began reading everything she could get her hands on about the park. Kendra discovered that the more research she did, the more it proved that the Disney artists and Imagineers had done their research too. She began looking for a single resource that included movie props and Hidden Mickeys in Disneyland. Unable to find one, she started a focused effort to research the subject and write the resource herself.

Also scheduled to appear are:

  • Jeff Kurtti, author of "The Art of Mulan" and "The Art and Making of A Bug's Life"
  • Bill Cotter, author of "The Wonderful World of Disney Television"
  • Adam Collings, author of “California: West of the West�?

“We’re honored to have all these authors joining us at Walt’s Barn, also known as Walt’s Happy Place,�? says Terry Lynn, Walt’s Barn Crew Chief. “Walt’s Barn offers a wonderful atmosphere for Disney enthusiasts of all ages to meet & mingle with these authors in a very intimate and relaxed setting.�?

Guests visiting Walt’s Barn on Sunday, March 21, will have the opportunity to personally meet all authors, who will be available for reminiscing and book signings from 11:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. The Barn opens at 11:00 a.m. and visitors are encouraged to arrive early and bring their cameras.

About Walt’s Barn

In July 1999 the quaint red 1900era barn, which was the centerpiece of Walt Disney’s miniature live steam Carolwood Pacific Railroad and served as his personal workshop, was relocated from the family's Holmby Hills property on Carolwood Drive in west Los Angeles to its new home in Griffith Park. The Barn is now a living showcase of Walt’s railroad legacy and is filled with his personal railroad memorabilia, plus other scale model railroad displays belonging to Disney Animator Ollie Johnston, the late bandleader, David Rose, and members of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society.

Walt’s Barn is open for public tours the third Sunday of each month from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Barn is operated by volunteers from the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society on behalf of the Walt Disney Family Foundation. The Barn is located in the Los Angeles Live Steamers facility at 5202 Zoo Drive in Griffith Park, about one-quarter mile east of Travel Town. Admission and parking are free.

For information about Carolwood Pacific Historical Society visit www.carolwood.com. For more information about Los Angeles Live Steamers visit www.lals.org.

--Posted March 19, 2004
Source: Carolwood Pacific Historical Society