Continuing the Savas Beatie trend of really, really long, self-descriptive book titles that don’t leave much room in which a previewer can expand is W. Stephen Coleman’s Discovering Gettysburg: An Unconventional Introduction to the Greatest Little Town in America and the Monumental Battle that Made it Famous. Now, most of us realize that Gettysburg is a very weird place, and I’m not talking about ghosts. If you want to get a good idea of just how weird, check out the little film Route 30 (and it’s so-far-two sequels).
This is described by the author as his personal journey of coming to know the place:
“…you will visit with me a host of famous and off-the-beaten-path places on the battlefield, explore the historic town of Gettysburg as it is today, chat with some of the town’s fascinating ‘resources,’ enjoy ‘conversations’ with a variety of experts on the battle, and follow along, as I did, with some of the most engaging storytelling I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.”
Tim Hartman provides maps and caricatures of historic personalities and, most interestingly, acquaintances like Sue Boardman, Lance Herdegen, Scott Mingus, Scott Hartwig, James Hessler, Eric Lindblade, and Steve Stanley, all of whom have been interviewed here, as well as a few other friends like John Heiser, Chuck Teague, J. D. Petruzzi, Dean Schultz, Eric Wittenberg, and Pete Carmichael.
Stephen Coleman was, until his retirement, a theater professor at the University of Pittsburgh (I have to wonder if he crossed paths with my brother Dennis Smeltzer there?), and you may remember him as the guy who got his face ripped off by Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs.
Tim Hartman is also a local Pittsburgh actor and cartoonist, and sometimes gigs as a stand-up comic.
Harry Smeltzer
Bull Runnings 
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