On Saturday, October 11, the Central Library is open to registered Heartland Book Festival attendees only. Regular services, such as hold pickups, public computers and phones, and public meeting rooms, will not be available.

My Grandfather's Prison: Death and Deceit in 1940s Kansas City
Series:
Missouri Valley Sundays
Investigative journalist Richard Serrano tells the story of his grandfather’s murder and its cover-up—with links to political boss Tom Pendergast and other colorful characters.
A drunk living on Kansas City's skid row, James Patrick Lyons was arrested 80 times for public intoxication. On the night of his last arrest, he was taken to the city jail and held in solitary confinement. The next morning he was dead. Officials said it was natural causes—yet they could not explain his broken neck.
Serrano is a former reporter for the Kansas City Times and former Washington correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. He is also author of One of Ours: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing.
Listen
Upcoming in this series:
Enfys McMurry
'Disaster at 39,000 Feet: How ...
Sunday, October 26, 2025
2:00pm
On May 22, 1962, a routine flight from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to Kansas City turned tragic after radar contact was suddenly lost. Eight crew members and 37 passeng...
Watch or Listen to Past Events in this Series:
Brandon G. Kinney
The Mormon War of 1838
Sunday, June 24, 2012
2:00pm
Author Brandon G. Kinney explores the complex series of events that led to the brief but bloody Mormon War of 1838, a conflict over religion, ideology, and land pitt...