Bay Area author talks about the “dawn of aviation” at Friends of Menlo Park Library event on Jan. 5

To kick off the New Year, the Friends of the Menlo Park Library is hosting Bay Area author Craig S. Harwood, who will talk about his biography, Quest for Flight: John J. Montgomery and the Dawn of Aviation in the West, at 11:00 am on Saturday, Jan. 5, in the Menlo Park City Council chambers (501 Laurel St.). The event is free of charge.

The book tells the story of Montgomery, a California scientist who succeeded in flying gliders 20 years before the Wright Brother’s powered flights at Kitty Hawk in 1903, putting his native state at the center of the American aviation industry from the beginning.

Copies of the book, which was co-authored by Gary B. Fogel, will be available for sale following Harwood’s talk.