I’m sitting here at my dining room table taking a first look at the first proofs of The Making of an Icon: The Dreamers, The Schemers, and The Hard Hats Who Built The Gateway Arch, 2nd Edition. Yes, I’ve found some boo-boos, but that’s all right. That’s why you look at proofs, so you can catch the mistakes. But what I see so far is that this edition is much better than the one that came out in 2014.
Almost everything is there from the first book. But there are plenty of new details to make this stand out, in chapters about the $380 million makeover of the Arch grounds and museum and how modern “building climbers” rappelled down the Arch to check on dirty spots that showed up in the monument. I wrote about the meaning of the new Gateway Arch National Park designation and offered something on that amazing shape of the Gateway Arch. There’s more to it than just an Arch. There are dozens of new pictures, plus 16 color pages provided by Getty Images.
It’ll be a book for every lover of the Gateway Arch, which should mean every St. Louisan. That’s why everybody in St. Louis should plan now to attend the book launch party for The Making of an Icon: The Dreamers, The Schemers, and The Hard Hats Who Built The Gateway Arch, 2nd Edition. You can buy one of the first copies available anywhere, get my autograph and have fun at the event from 2-5 p.m. Sunday June 24 at the Royale, 3132 S. Kingshighway Blvd.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to my proofreading.
Jim Merkel the Writer 