History Retold

A A A Comments By Amber Taufen Thursday, Jul 8 2010

No one knows Denver neighborhoods quite like Phil Goodstein, who has written numerous books on historic topics and areas as well as regularly giving walking tours of the city. “There’s an interesting interaction that happens,” he says. “I’ve been giving walking tours of different neighborhoods for 25 years. A lot of this is just exploring the areas, and once I decide there’s a possible tour or it’s interesting, I start digging.”

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For his latest work, The Ghosts of University Park, Platt Park, and Beyond, Goodstein spoke with “a lot of longtime Denver people who are in their seventies and eighties, but even then, that’s a certain limitation of getting a perspective when they were young, back in the 1930s and 1940s. I’m trying to get back to the nineteenth century and what made the area itself tick, some of its traditions. The book has “a few urban legends, some folklore,” he adds. “Is there a library in the Mary Reed Building on the DU campus where there’s some strange things that go on in the elevator? Yes, but that’s sort of simply the frosting, because I’m trying to look at the people, the places, often the controversy and the scandal as well.”

And even if people don’t buy the book, “it’ll be a good show to just hear me rant and rave,” he concludes. Goodstein will sign books tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover, 2526 East Colfax Avenue. Call 303-322-7727; to learn more about Goodstein, visit www.leonardleonard.com/neighborhoods/goodstein.shtml.
Tue., July 13, 7:30 p.m., 2010

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