“Write what you know” – this popular adage certainly rings true for local author Mike Conklin.

From his high school job at the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Hawkeye Record, a stint at KCRG, and a 36-year career at The Chicago Tribune, Conklin built a name for himself writing for regional news outlets. A Cornell alum, Conklin later returned to academia – swapping his media career for teaching at DePaul University. While there, he co-founded the journalism department and was an adviser to the campus newspaper. Now, Conklin writes books set in small, Midwestern college towns like the communities he’s lived and worked in.

Join Conklin for a reading, Q&A, and signing of his book He Bet the Farm on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m. in Room 108 of Cole Public Library. Conklin will follow his book talk with a segment on becoming a writer.

You can find He Bet the Farm, and all the books in Conklin’s “Town and Gown” series, at Cole Public Library.