Brad Edmondson, author of the Tompkins County Historical Commission's most recent book Hammer & Tongs: The Ironworks of Durand Van Doren, will do a special reading of selections from the book, accompanied by Durand Van Doren himself.

Durand Van Doren has spent nearly fifty years turning plain iron into something with a sense of humor. He came to blacksmithing in 1972 through a ten-week course, then sharpened his craft under master smith Frank Turley in Santa Fe before setting up shop back east — first in an abandoned cowshed near Slaterville Springs, and later at Durand's Forge, the studio he ran for years out of the Carmen Road Artist Quarters in Mecklenburg — building what would become one of Tompkins County's most recognizable artistic careers. His ironwork sits somewhere between the functional and the fanciful: gates, lanterns, and garden accents are his usual vocabulary, but he's never been content to leave them merely useful, working in a bee, a peony, or some other small surprise and admitting he's always trying to "make it more fun somehow."

This reading is presented by The Tompkins County Historical Commision and Charley Githler, County Historian. Registration is not required but is appreciated. Copies of “Hammer and Tongs” will be available for sale by cash, Venmo, or Paypal.

Van Doren beside the iron sign for The Inn at Taughannock Falls