Beggars of Life Book Discussion and Movie Presentation

The St. Marys Community Public Library is pleased to announce that on Thursday, November 7^th at 6:00 p.m. we will be hosting a book discussion featuring “Beggars of Life” by local author Jim Tully.

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!

A bestseller in 1924, this vivid piece of outlaw history has inexplicably faded from the public consciousness. Jim Tully takes us across the seamy underbelly of pre-WWI America on freight trains, and inside hobo jungles and brothels while narrowly averting railroad bulls (cops) and wardens of order.

Written with unflinching honesty and insight, Beggars of Life follows Tully from his first ride at age thirteen, choosing life on the road over a deadening job, through his teenage years of learning the ropes of the rails and -living one meal to the next.

Tully’s direct, confrontational approach helped shape the hard-boiled school of writing, and later immeasurably influenced the noir genre. Beggars of Life was the first in Tully’s five-volume memoir, dubbed the “Underworld Edition,” recalling his transformation from road-kid to novelist, journalist, Hollywood columnist, chain maker, boxer, circus handyman, and tree surgeon.

Jim Tully (1891-1947) was a best-selling novelist and popular Hollywood journalist in the 1920s and ’30s. Known as “Cincinnati Red” during his years as a road-kid, he counted prizefighter and publicist of Charlie Chaplin among his many jobs. He is considered (with Dashiel Hammett) one of the inventors of the hard-boiled style of American writing.

Those interested in attending can pick up a free book at the library before the discussion. Books were purchased in part through a grant from The America 250-Ohio Commission and a donation from The Kiwanis Club of St. Marys, Ohio.

The movie Beggars of Life will be shown at the Grand Opera House and Theater on Saturday, November 16^th at 6:00 p.m. For more information on the movie, contact The Grand Opera House and Theater at 119 W. Spring Street, on Facebook, or at grandoperahouselive.com.