Ken Szymanski

Both books are available for shipping through the links below.

Home Field Advantage ($10) is also available in person at the Volume One Local Store, Dotter's Books, and the Chippewa Valley Museum.

Sit Down and Stay Awhile: My Aunt Lil, a Small Town Bar, and a Lifetime of Polkas ($10) is also available in person at the Volume One Local Store, Dotter's Books, Chippewa Valley Museum, Thorp Area Historical Society, Nolechek’s Meats in Thorp, and Marieke Gouda cheese shop in Thorp.

Ken Szymanski, the official 2020-2024 Writer-in-Residence for the city of Eau Claire, is releasing his latest book, Sit Down and Stay Awhile: My Aunt Lil, a Small-Town Bar, and a Lifetime of Polkas. The book tells the life-story of Lil Kaczmarek, who for 52 years was co-owner of Leon & Lil’s tavern in Thorp, WI. Lil is now 96 years old and still a celebrity in Thorp. Sit Down and Stay Awhile is not a history lesson; rather it’s like sitting down at the bar with a great bartender on a slow Saturday afternoon, listening to a series of great stories spanning the decades.

Order here:

https://www.thelocalstore.org/sit-down-and-stay-awhile-my-aunt-lil-a-small-town.html

Home Field Advantage contains short nonfiction tales that either take place in Eau Claire or are about the people of Eau Claire. There are stories about music, sports, education, family, unconventional romance, a heist, a couple of chase scenes, a Christmas Eve sibling smackdown, twists of fate, redemption, and some stumbled-upon truth.

Everything about the book—from production to the people in it—is 100% local. Earlier versions of some of the stories have appeared in Volume One and Barstow and Grand. Others are exclusive to the book.

To order, click on this link https://www.thelocalstore.org/home-field-advantage.html or visit the Volume One Local store for in-person shopping.

Sidle Up to the Stool for a StoryIf between 1948-2000 you drove through Thorp, Wisconsin, you inevitably laid eyes upon Leon & Lil’s – a modest bar located on the town’s main drag. From the outside, it resembled most any bar, but upon entering, patrons were treated to an atmosphere that ...

Beer Chasers, Snowball Fights, and Stolen CouchesKen Szymanski holds many titles. He’s a husband, father, middle school English teacher, and the 2020-22 Writer in Residence for the City of Eau Claire. For all ...