Kankakee Public Library Podcasts

Utica author and historian Steve Stout presents a lecture at the Kankakee Public Library on his book The Starved Rock Murders, which details the brutal murder of three women at Starved Rock State Park and the grueling 8-month investigation it sparked. Stout also tells the awful tale of the 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster that took the lives of 259 men and boys. Stout began his passion for Illinois history with high school studies of poet and Galesburg native Carl Sandburg. Following graduation from ISU in 1974, Stout moved to La Salle where he worked at the local newspaper as the photo editor. Stout now writes for Ottawa’s The Times newspaper and continues work on several different writing projects dealing with Illinois Valley history. This program was sponsored by the Friends of the Kankakee Public Library.