Summer Events for the "Signing Their Lives Away" Book sent in by Denise Kiernan & Joseph D'Agnese

Signing Their Lives Away: The Fame and Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence (Quirk Books)
by Denise Kiernan and Joseph D’Agnese

In 1776, fifty-six men risked their lives and livelihoods to defy King George III and signed the most important document in the history of the United States. Yet how many of these men do we actually remember? Sure, everyone knows John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, but who were the other 53 signers? Signing Their Lives Away: The Fame & Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence is a book about the eclectic group of statesmen, soldiers, and scoundrels who signed this historic document—and the strange fates that awaited them. Some rose to the highest levels of United States government, but some spent time in debtors’ prison. Signer George Wythe was murdered by his nephew. Button Gwinnett was killed in a duel. Thomas Lynch, Jr. was lost at sea. And of course, Samuel Adams achieved fame as a patriot-brewer. Featuring a reversible dust jacket depicting a facsimile of the Declaration, Signing Their Lives Away provides an entertaining and enlightening narrative for history buffs of all ages.

"56 Days of Signers" Twitter Event:
From June 7 to August 2, 2010, we'll be tweeting short daily bios about the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence. Why 56 Days? Because the major events of that historic summer in 1776 took place between June 7 (the day Congress first motioned to break from Great Britain) and August 2 (the day the majority of Signers put their names on the historic document). We'll focus on one Signer per day during this period, posting multiple tweets about them during the day. You can read our daily updates at www.Twitter.com/56Signers. We will of course mention the historic sites we've met in our travels; if you work with a site associated with a Signer and want us to mention any special events coming up this summer, just drop us a line and we'll try to get it into one of the posts occurring throughout your Signer's day.

Events:
We've already booked a number of signings for 2010. If anyone is interested in having us come speak or sign, or address school kids, please let us know. Here are current dates and locations where we'll be signing. If you're in the area, please stop by to say hi. If you know of any media people who might be interested, pass along this information. See the book website for details.
June 27: American Library Association Conference, Washington, DC
July 1: National Archives Gift Shop, Washington, DC
July 2: Independence Visitor Center, Philadelphia.
July 3: Old Colony House, Newport, RI
July 4: Old State House, Boston

Signers Fan Page:
If you are on Facebook, we hope you will choose to "like" our page. We could use the company! We use the Fan page to share news of our events and news that pops up about the Signers. It's been an interesting year, what with the discovery of a long-lost copy of the Declaration and the recent sale of a letter signed by Button Gwinnett—the rarest autograph of all the Signers. Again: If you run a signer historic site and have some news to share, send it to us. We are happy to help you get the word out to our readers.

T-shirts:
We have some dandy Signer T-shirts available via our website, and plan to add ones for every single Signer by Fourth of July, so check back if you don't see the one you want. We have a deal running where, if you make a tax-deductible donation to our film project about the Signers, you're eligible for a free T-shirt. Click here for details.

Some background: Our film project has nonprofit, tax-deductible status via our affiliation with the Southern Documentary Fund, which helps filmmakers in the South pursue grants to continue their film projects. If you hear of a signer-friendly grant, or know of companies or organizations looking to sponsor historical or educational films, let us know so we can apply.

Mythology:
Every year at this time, email in-boxes are crowded with the same old email about the sacrifices of the Signers. Much of the information contained in that email is exaggerated or just plain false. (Example: No Signer was ever "tortured by the British until he died." Preposterous.) If someone sends you an email to this effect during the summer, tell them to get the facts. And if you know of any media people who'd like the real scoop, kindly pass along our names. We enjoy setting the record straight.

As always, let us know if you're having trouble getting copies for yourself, bookstore or site. We can usually help.

Thank you all for your help and continued enthusiasm. Thanks to you this book is now headed into its 5th printing.

—Joseph D'Agnese
—Denise Kiernan

“Signing Their Lives Away”
The book: www.signingtheirlivesaway.com
The film: www.revolutionaryroadtrip.com
Twitter: Twitter.com/56Signers
Facebook.com/SigningTheirLivesAway