MOUNT VERNON — What if you could go back and change the past? Would you want to? And would the change be any different – or any better – than what you already have? And what would happen to you if you attempted that change?
Fifty years ago, on November 22, 1963, our world changed. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. But what would you do if you were offered the opportunity to change that moment of our history?
That opportunity is what is presented to Jake Epping, high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, by his friend, Al Templeton, proprietor of a local diner. Somehow, overnight, Al has aged years and contracted a fatal illness. But it hasn’t really happened overnight. In fact, Al has been gone more than four years – and has travelled through a time portal that connects the present to September 9, 1958.
Al began with the idea of buying hamburger meat at 1950’s prices, but he had taken on a quite different task before illness sent him back home to the present: trying to prevent the murder of John F. Kennedy. Now, Al is too sick to complete this mission; but has he found the right guy to finish the job?
“If you ever wanted to change the world,” Al tells Jake, “this is your chance. Save Kennedy, save his brother. Save Martin Luther King. Stop the race riots. Stop Vietnam, maybe . . . You could save millions of lives.” But is it that simple?
Come to the Library on Tuesday, November 19, at 7:00 PM, and join historian and self-described book fanatic Mickey Shire as he leads us through Stephen King’s answers to these questions in his richly layered novel, “11/22/63.” Refreshments will be provided.
Copies of the book may be checked out of the Public Library or purchased at local bookstores.
For more information, call 740-392-BOOK (2665), Ext. 243, visit www.knox.net or email communityrelations@knox.net.
