Legendary Locals of Pottstown Lecture & Book Signing

Heritage Area Exec Dir. Kurt Zwikl speaks while authors Ed Berger & Sue Repko look on

It's safe to say that everyone in Pottstown knows about native Amanda Smith, who founded Mrs. Smith's Delicious Homemade Pies, a company that baked pies in Pottstown and distributed them to every state in the nation. But not many people know that Hildegard Peplau, who trained at Pottstown Hospital School of Nursing in 1931, is known as the "mother of psychiatric nursing" for having revolutionized care for people with behavioral and personality disorders. And fewer still have likely heard of Naomi Childers, a silent screen actress born in Pottstown in 1892. Those people, and many more, are the subjects of the new book  Legendary Locals of Pottstown, co-authored by Sue Repko and Ed Berger and released last month by Arcadia Publishing as part of its Legendary Locals series.

Sue Repko signs a book

Ed Berger

Repko and Berger delighted an audience at the Schuylkill River Heritage Area offices on Wednesday evening, Nov. 6, with tales of the "legends," both famous and  little known, who have left their mark on Pottstown. Repko talked about the process of writing and researching the book, and the fascinating people she discovered in the process. Berger, a jazz writer and photographer who took many of the contemporary photographs in the book, discussed his techniques for capturing his subjects in their homes and places of business.

As a bonus, the authors placed a selection of the book's enlarged photographs around  the room, providing an interesting focal point throughout the lecture.