The Museum is pleased welcome author Terri Ryburn, who will present a program on her book No Crybabies Allowed: The Past as Told by Me. This free, hybrid program will be held in the Museum’s second floor courtroom at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 14. The program will be live-streamed on the Museum's YouTube page by following this link: https://bit.ly/MCMHLive92.
This story collection, told from a child’s perspective, ranges from hilarious to poignant, as Ryburn encounters bullies, suffers from unrequited love, puzzles over religion, abandons plans to run away from home, and upholds family honor, while shedding the “crybaby” moniker.
Ryburn shares vivid memories of growing up poor in the 1950s, moving from Illinois to California, to Kentucky, and to Oregon. She was “the new kid” at seven grade schools (including three third grades!) and two high schools. No one could have foreseen that Ryburn would transcend the poverty of her early life to earn a doctorate in history, to retire from Illinois State University as an administrator and instructor, and to become the owner of a small business.
Terri Ryburn is a writer, a playwright, an actor, and a stand-up comic. She is the proprietor of Ryburn Place Gifts and Gab at Sprague’s Super Service., a two-story Tudor Revival gas station on the 1926 alignment of Route 66 in Normal, Illinois.
Copies of Ryburn’s book will be for sale and a book signing will immediately follow the program. Questions? or for more information, contact education@mchistory.org or 309-827-0428.