[mcdude]

History of Bike Week
from the citizen

New Book Offers Pictorial History of Bike Week

Article Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Just in time for the 85th running of Laconia Motorcycle Week, the granddaddy of all American motorcycle events, two local residents have written a book richly illustrated with photos from many of the rally's memorable moments.

But Jennifer Anderson and Charlie St. Clair aren't your average authors writing a book about motorcycles and rallying. They are, respectively, the director and executive director of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association, which since St. Clair was hired in 1991 has worked to promote Bike Week.

"Laconia Motorcycle Week," is the latest in Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America" series. The book, which has a suggested price of $19.99, will become available on May 26 along with a complementary collection of 15 vintage Bike Week postcards for $7.99.

The book and postcards are coming out just shortly before the start of Bike Week, which this year will be held June 14-22.

Drawing photos from both public and private collections, Anderson and St. Clair — the duo also co-host the weekly "Today in Focus" program on Lakes Region Public Access — explores the history of Bike Week from its start in 1916 as a Gypsy Tour through the years of racing and hillclimbs at Gunstock to its evolution as a rally that annually draws some 350,000 visitors to the Lakes Region and increasingly to the Seacoast and White Mountains.
The 128-page book also looks at how motorcycling has changed since a group of nattily-dressed gentlemen and ladies rode up to The Weirs from Boston, thus beginning Bike Week.

"Laconia Motorcycle Week" will be available at local retailers, online bookstores and through Arcadia's Website at www.arcadiapublishing.com. Anderson said several signing events are planned.

Started in Dover in 1993, Arcadia Publishing of Mount Pleasant, S.C., is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the U.S. and has published numerous books about Laconia and the Lakes Region among its more than 5,000 titles.

"We hope that our book will keep alive the love and passion for motorcycling," said Anderson and St. Clair in a prepared statement from Arcadia. "We hope that our book shares our history of freedom and rights of everyone to pursue their interests and share them with those around them. We hope that people will read our book and walk away with a new appreciation for a history about Laconia Motorcycle Week that maybe they have not previously known."