Author Presentation: Dan Guillory

The first Caucasian visitors to the great Illinois prairie were dazzled and mystified by the panoramic sweep of its horizons and the ubiquitous prairie grass that grew to a height of six feet or more. These visitors, all highly observant, included Patrick Shirreff, George Flower, Morris Birkbeck, the poet William Cullen Bryant, and the memoirist Eliza Farnham who in 1846 published her description entitled Life in Prairie Land.

Using these historical materials, as well as his own poetry, photographs, and line drawings by Leslie Guillory, Professor Dan Guillory will celebrate the many ways the prairie has continued to define a geographical and cultural place, a huge landform that engages our eyes—and our imagination. Dan will talk about plants, pioneers, Army veterans, farmers, and the ever-changing weather. He has published ten books, including Living With Lincoln: Life and Art in the Heartland (1989), The Lincoln Poems (2008), and, most recently, The Prairie: Then & Now (2019). He is Professor Emeritus at Millikin University.