BOOKS FOR SALE — The works of nine local authors will be available during a special meet-and-greet event set from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Main Street Museum in Toronto. The museum is located inside the Karaffa Recreation Center on Dennis Way. -- Contributed

TORONTO — Almost everyone enjoys a good story — especially the curators of the Main Street Museum and the Historical Society of Toronto.

Because that is what they do … tell stories of the places and the people of this area. And they tell them time and time again to all who pass through their doors. The curators are also avid readers.

According to Carolyn Walker, president of the historical society and museum administrator, “A good book and a cup of tea or coffee is right up there on our ‘perfect day’ routine.”

“We are always looking for ways to help others enjoy these experiences,” Walker stated. One of those special ways has been planned for Sunday afternoon, as the community is invited to attend the museum’s Author Meet-and-Greet event. Guests will have the opportunity to meet with local authors from noon to 4 p.m. in the commons area of the Karaffa Recreation Center on Dennis Way.

Walker noted this will be an informal event, with participants being able to speak with various authors, purchase books, receive information regarding what is available at the Schiappa Library, meet with representatives of Steubenville’s Jefferson County Historical Society and Museum, and talk to representatives from the Jefferson County Genealogical Society. Several individuals from the Tri-State Writers Society will be among those in attendance.

Whether you like fiction, non-fiction, poetry, mysteries or romance, the nine authors scheduled to be a part of the afternoon will have your interests covered, Walker explained.

Those expected to appear include Lisa Hase-Jackson, Bob Petras, Gary Williams, Joan McGlone, Susan Guy, Tom Zielinsky, Mary Zwierchowski, Rena Glover Goss and Virginia Glenn.

Hase-Jackson resides in Pittsburgh and has two publications: “Fline and Fire” and “Insomnia in Another Town.” Her poetry explores the complexities of interpersonal relationships and the opaque nature of family history, tenderness and clarity, while investigating place and displacement.

Petras resides in Toronto with his wife, Debbie. He has written three books entitled “River Rats,” “Release the Belgium” and “The Locust People.” The first book focuses on friends growing up Toronto. His second, friends growing up in a small city — a city that could have been anywhere USA during the ’50s and ’60s. Most people will see themselves within his pages, Walker said.

“The 17-year locusts are coming, so get prepared by reading Bob’s book on the locust people,” Walker said.

Williams is a retired Wintersville resident who worked as a librarian. He has written eight books, some of which are out of print but can still be found on sites such as Thrift Books or e-Bay.

Williams plans to have the following books at the meet-and-greet: “Hiking Ohio,” “No Man Knows this Country Better: The Frontier Life of John Gibson,” and “Washington’s Western Department: Fort Pitt and the American Revolution.”

McGlone is a member of the Tri-State Writers Society and began her writing career following retirement. Her first book, entitled “The House on Seventh Street,” tells the story of her grandmother and the trials she endured during her second marriage. McGlone’s second book, “The Paperboy From Eighth Street,” continues her family’s story. The stories take place in Steubenville, grabbing the reader’s attention from the first chapter until the final page, Walker stated.

“In reading the books, you are transported back in time to those streets and downtown businesses of that era,” Walker added.

Guy is a well-known local author who has written two true-crime books about Steubenville. “Mobsters, Madams and Murder in Steubenville, Ohio,” explores the Prohibition Era, the time of the Ku Klux Klan, the rise of Little Chicago and the murders of residents throughout Steubenville and Jefferson County.

Guy’s second book, “The Midnight Mill Murders in Steubenville, Ohio,” takes you inside Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel to the streets of Steubenville.

Zielinsky resides in Weirton. He and co-writer George B. Hines II of New Cumberland researched and wrote “Rockyside, A Forgotten Mining Community,” based on communities no longer in existence.

Zielinsky remembers tales his mother told, and the more he searched, the more he wanted to know about these lost communities. Readers will learn of these areas which included a railroad station where people took a train to Pittsburgh.

“Many business people from Toronto would cross over the river on the ferry boat to catch the train,” Walker explained. “Tom just finished his third book about Weirton Steel, ‘The Final Days of Weirton Steel.'”

Zwierchowski is an assistant research librarian at the Mary H. Weir Public Library in Weirton. Her first book, for which she collaborated with co-writer Jane Kraina, “Secrets of the Mist — The History of Brown’s Island, Weirton, West Virginia,” goes back to the first settlers on the island located in the middle of the Ohio River between Weirton and Toronto.

Who were these people? Where did they go? There are stories of burial mounds, strange events that happened there and the people that inhabited the island. In her book she also tells the story of the 1972 Coke Plant disaster that killed 19 men. Her latest book, “Murders, Misfortunes, Mystics and More … True Tales from West Virginia,” is a collection of short stories based on local historical events, Walker said.

Goss is a retired music teacher, originally from Adena. Her book, “Murder on Perrin Run — A Historic Crime in Jefferson County, Ohio,” is a true crime story. She relates the sequence of events of the Steubenville trial, through the jury, the townspeople and the citizens of Jefferson County.

Glenn’s aunt was married to Dr. Robert Schilling, who authored two books: “Tales of Yellow Creek” and “The Yellow Creek Story.” She combined the books and had them reprinted into one work entitled “Tales and Stories of Yellow Creek.” The originals, written in the ’40s, are stories of events and people living in the Yellow Creek area of the county.

Her second reprinted book, “The Last Night and the Last Day,” written and printed first in 1913 by the East Liverpool Review, tells the story of Morgan’s Raid in 1863 Eastern Ohio.

The meet and greet event is open to the public and free to attend. The Main Street Museum will be open throughout the event. The Historical Society will have a wide variety of items for sale that day, including tote bags, the book “Era of Elegance,” Toronto High School Alumni cookbooks, select American china pieces, Cat’s Meow items and various books.