AUGUSTA — Historian Eleanor Phillips Brackbil will discuss a pioneering Mainer’s wife who landed in the Klondike gold rush, the topic of her book, “The Queen of Heartbreak Trail: The Life and Times of Harriet Smith Pullen, Pioneering Woman.'”
Pullen was both the subject and the source of myriad crazy tales about her years in Alaska during and after the 1897 Klondike gold rush, which muddied Brackbill’s journey of discovery in uncovering her story, according to a news release from the historical society. But as a historian, her goal was to separate fact from fiction and ferret out the real story.
The presentation wil be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, at the Maine State Library, 230 State St. It is free and open to the public.
The book is a finalist for a 2017 Willa Literary Award, which honors the best in literature featuring women’s stories set in the West. The award is named in honor of Pulitzer Prize winner Willa Cather. Women Writing the West, a nonprofit association of writers and other professionals, underwrites and presents the nationally recognized award annually.
Brackbill, earned an MA in art history at Boston University and studied in the art history doctoral program at City University of New York. Following 25 years as a curator at the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, she embarked on a second career writing about history. She lives in Westbrook.
