Friends group plans to honor
Ed and Diane Annable, regional historians and authors from Cypress, are the winners of the 2018 Delta Award awarded by the Friends of Morris Library at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
The Friends of Morris have presented the award annually since 1976 to authors who are from or have written about Southern Illinois or to organizations that have contributed to the region’s cultural life.
The official presentation of the Delta Award is set for 5 p.m. April 25 in the John C. Guyon Auditorium at SIU’s Morris Library.
A presentation by the Annables about Johnson County history, even before Illinois was a state, will follow.
The evening wraps up with a reception and light refreshments in the first floor rotunda at about 6 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public.
The Annables have researched and written extensively about Johnson County and its history.
With the exception of five years spent in nearby Union County, they are life-long residents.
Ed grew up in the historic West Eden community in southwest Johnson County while Diane hails from Vienna and has roots in Johnson County.
A lifelong interest in their county’s history led the Annables to collect stories and articles about Southern Illinois, much as other people amass antiques or other collectibles. They also reviewed old records of court cases in Johnson County.
Realizing what a treasure trove of information they had compiled, the couple decided to share their historical knowledge. The result is two recent books.
“Six Years in the Illinois Territory 1812-1818: When Johnson County Spanned River to River” chronicles Southern Illinois’ history during its most early days, when Johnson County extended as far north as to where Carbondale and Marion are today. The book’s release coincides with the state’s bicentennial.
“The Law and Judge Lynch: 200 Years of Murder in Johnson County, Illinois” reveals some of the interesting stories they discovered in those old court case files.
Copies of both books will be available at the reception. Due to the vast amounts of regional history they’ve collected, it’s likely another book will soon be forthcoming.
Ed and Diane Annable join an elite group of more than 100 authors and organizations chosen as Delta Award winners. Previous recipients include Paul Simon, Virginia Marmaduke, Richard “Dick” Clayton Gregory and Robert Coover.