Jan Jacobi, author of Young
Lincoln, to hold book signing At Lincoln’s New Salem Historical
Site on Saturday, June 9
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[June 07, 2018]
Author Jan Jacobi will
be signing his young adult historical fiction work, Young Lincoln,
at Lincoln’s New Salem Historical Site, 15588 History Lane,
Petersburg, IL 62675. The event is set for Saturday, June 9 from 9
a.m. to noon. Admission is free and open to the public.
America’s greatest president, that marble icon Abraham Lincoln,
comes alive as a youth and young man in Young Lincoln.
Forty-five-year classroom veteran, Jan Jacobi, a middle school
humanities teacher, brings Abe to life in a narrative of the
frontier experience that is already being compared to the stories of
Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Painstakingly researched, Abe’s historically accurate account is
safe in the hands of a trustworthy narrator: Abraham Lincoln,
himself. Readers will meet the various mentors who made him the man
he longed to be, mourn his many painful losses, and travel with him
down the Mississippi River. Young Lincoln is biography at its
finest, and it reminds us all that our icons and statues were once
flesh and blood that walked among us.
Abe Lincoln is growing up on the American frontier in Indiana. It’s
cold, there isn’t usually enough to eat, there’s nothing at all to
read, and the one job that awaits him is farmer, like his
overbearing father. But his step-mother’s books and a chance to
travel down the Mississippi River offer Abe a window into a
different world. Abe’s eyes are opened and he can’t go back to being
the boy he was before.
With the help of his friends, Abe will strike out to find his own
path. Obstacles wait around every river bend, and the shadow of
death is never far, but nothing will stop him from becoming the man
he knows he can be. You might think you know the end of his story,
but you have no idea what it took to get there.
“A cracking good story—one that hews to the historical facts, while
hewing from them the believable human figure of a boy named Abraham
growing into the man Lincoln. This is a fine novel for readers of
all ages and interests.”
—Robert Bray, author of Reading with Lincoln.
About the Author
For 27 years Jan Jacobi served as Head of Lower School at St. Louis
Country Day School and Head of Middle School at Mary
Institute-Country Day School. He is very tall, and some of the
students thought he looked like Abe Lincoln, particularly when he
spoke to them in assemblies wearing a top hat. It was on a seventh
grade field trip to New Salem that Mr. Jacobi became deeply
interested in Lincoln’s time there. Mr. Jacobi lives in St. Louis
where he teaches at the St. Michael School of Clayton. In 2014, he
was recognized as Middle School Teacher of the Year by St. Louis
Magazine. Mr. Jacobi loves stargazing, gardening, and like Abraham
Lincoln, reading the newspapers.
Fun Facts About the Author
1. Jan was once asked to become a Lincoln impersonator. He politely
declined. He is a better writer than he is an actor. Too stiff.
2. His favorite scene in Young Lincoln was axed by the publisher.
You can find it on page 676 of Herndon’s Informants, edited by
Douglas Wilson and Rodney Davis.
3. Jan and his wife Ginger watch the Perseid meteor shower on warm,
clear August nights while they vacation on Nantucket Island.
4. Jan and Ginger attended the C-SPAN re-enactment of the
Lincoln-Douglas debate in Alton, Illinois, in period dress. They sat
on a hay bale for three hours.
5. The two places where Jan feels closest to Lincoln are New Salem
(the reconstructed frontier village where Lincoln spent his early
adulthood) and the Soldiers’ Home in Washington, D.C. (where Lincoln
“vacationed” in the summer. What little peace he got was there.)
Author Q and A
1. Why did you write Young Lincoln?
Lincoln is a remarkable human being. There are so many dimensions to
him. We have to be careful not to turn him into a saint, but his
essential goodness speaks to me. He was a master politician, but
that doesn’t mean he sacrificed his integrity. His leadership was
characterized by lack of ego.
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His is such a great role model for all of us. My students kept
asking me for a book on Lincoln. There were books for children and
for adults, but nothing for young adults. A colleague told me, “You
should write it.” I began and soon realized it was going to be
harder than I had thought.
2. What do you find
most fascinating in Lincoln?
I’m interested in who he was emotionally. What were his thoughts and
feelings? I have this vision of him carrying the burden of the Civil
War, all that stress, and not having another human being with whom
to share it. Not with his wife... not with anyone in Washington.
Joshua Speed, his closest friend wasn’t there, and by 1860, his
friendship with Speed had fallen apart over their conflicting views
on slavery. And remember, Lincoln was often depressed during the
Civil War. How did he survive? I don’t think anyone knows.
3. Was it hard to write as Abraham Lincoln?
Not really. Somehow in the Clayton Library in St. Louis, I could
just forget everything and let his voice flow through me and into
the story. It was both magical and eerie. When I walked in there in
the morning, I felt my own voice fading away and Abe’s voice
entering.
4. How long did it take you to do the research for the book?
Interestingly, that too was almost effortless. From the time I
picked up Carl Sandburg’s The Prairie Years, I just couldn’t stop
reading about Lincoln. I find him endlessly fascinating. The Abraham
Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago is a gold mine. I’d walk out of there
every six months with five more books. David McCullough talks about
the process of “marinating.” You have to allow the time for that to
happen
5. Have you ever had an Abraham Lincoln “moment”?
You know, I have. Ginger and I were walking to the Alton debate
re-enactment in period dress. Across the street was the actor
playing Douglas followed by an enormous crowd trying to get his
autograph. When they saw me, they rushed across the street and
mobbed me. When I had to tell them the truth, they all quietly
dispersed. Except for one eight-year-old boy, who still wanted my
autograph.
6. Back to the book . . . Why did you include the heron?
I spent a lot of time at New Salem. I would sit on the bank of the
Sangamon River where Lincoln and Jack Kelso talked about Shakespeare
and Burns. Every now and then, a great blue heron flew overhead.
When I saw one spearing fish in the river, I said to myself, “Darned
if it doesn’t look like Abraham Lincoln!”
7. What are your hopes for the book?
We are all concerned that students aren’t reading. I hope they read
the book and that they like it. The struggles Lincoln faced as a
young adult are the same ones that our young people face today. They
can learn from him. James McPherson dedicated his book Hallowed
Ground to his grandson. He wrote, “May he too befriend Mr. Lincoln.”
If I can introduce today’s students to the young man who became our
greatest president, I really believe their lives will be enriched.
8. Will there be a sequel?
I hope so. I’m already starting to plan Lincoln in Springfield. It
will be set during Lincoln’s years in Springfield which culminate in
his election to the presidency.
What: Author book
signing for Young Lincoln
When: Saturday, June 9 from 9:00 a.m. to noon
Where: Lincoln’s New Salem Historic Site, 15588 History Lane,
Petersburg, IL 62675
Admission: Free and open to the public
[Don Korte]
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