News release
The city of Santa Clarita is inviting local history buffs and adventure lovers to a free presentation, “Santa Clarita’s Heroes of 1850,” featuring graphic novelist Deborah Fox, author of “The Man Who Beat Death Valley.”
The free event is scheduled 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at the Old Town Newhall Public Library, 24500 Main St., Newhall.
The family-friendly presentation features a talk and artwork by Fox, author and illustrator of the award-winning graphic novel about pioneer hero William Lewis Manly, “The Man Who Beat Death Valley.”
“It is the 175th anniversary of Manly’s heroic trek to Santa Clarita,” Fox said in a news release. “He was a humanitarian superhero who saved families from starvation, and early Santa Claritans played a key role in his story. Now more than ever, we need hero stories.”
The San Francisco Book Review said of the book: “In ‘The Man Who Beat Death Valley: Based on the True Story of William Lewis Manly,’ Deborah A. Fox has crafted a wonderful tale of adventure and the struggle for survival that is made all the stronger and more emotional through the medium of the graphic novel.”
Signed copies will be available for purchase at the event.
