Laurie Lawlor

author • educator • often found in nature

Laurie Lawlor

Laurie Lawlor author

here and there

NCTE Conference, Denver, CO, 20–23 Nov 25

Pho­tos from the Novem­ber 20–23, 2025, NCTE Annu­al Con­fer­ence in Den­ver, Col­orado. The theme was “Dream Bold­ly.” Attend­ed by more than 8,000 enthu­si­as­tic edu­ca­tors, read­ing spe­cial­ists, admin­is­tra­tors, and librar­i­ans. Our pan­el was well-received by teach­ers from across the coun­try: Nebras­ka to Cal­i­for­nia, New York to Wyoming.
Laurie Lawlor signing Many Voices at the NCTE Conference

I did a won­der­ful sign­ing at the Hol­i­day House booth on Fri­day after­noon for Many Voic­es: Build­ing Erie, the Canal that Changed Amer­i­ca.

Megan Beaudoin, Laurie Lawlor, Marlene Targ Brill, and Jerdine Nolen, panel for Dream Boldly at NCTE Conference 2025

Our pan­el, “Bold­ly Mov­ing the Amer­i­can Dream For­ward: Inte­grat­ing Lit­er­a­ture and His­to­ry across the Cur­ricu­lum,” on Sat­ur­day after­noon fea­tured (left to right) my daugh­ter, accom­plished mid­dle school lan­guage arts instruc­tor, Megan Beau­doin from North Shore Coun­try Day School, Win­net­ka; Lau­rie Lawlor (Hol­i­day House); and two ter­rif­ic, award-win­ning authors: Mar­lene Targ Brill (Ohio Uni­ver­si­ty Press); Jer­dine Nolen (Paula Wise­man Books/Simon & Schuster).

Laurie Lawlor talking with an educator while signing a copy of Many Voices for her

Talk­ing with an edu­ca­tor while sign­ing a copy of Many Voic­es for her.

Educator Megan Beaudoin and author Laurie Lawlor in Denver, Colorado, enjoying a coffee break

Megan Beau­doin and Lau­rie Lawlor enjoy­ing moun­tain sun­shine in Larimer Square dur­ing the conference.

Boswell Books, Milwaukee, WI, 25 Sept 25

At Boswell Books, Mil­wau­kee, on Sept. 28, a great group attend­ed the pre­sen­ta­tion about Many Voic­es, Build­ing Erie, the Canal that Changed Amer­i­ca and the con­nec­tion with boom­ing Wis­con­sin cities and farms. Lots of ter­rif­ic ques­tions and com­ments about the canal and the key water­way con­nec­tions with Great Lakes. Thanks to Boswell Books for host­ing this event and to the love­ly staff per­son who took this photo.
At Boswell Books in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 25 September 2025 , Laurie Lawlor presenting Many V oices

Authors Mar­i­lyn Hig­gins and Lau­rie Lawlor, exhibitors at the Erie Canal Bicen­ten­ni­al, Buf­fa­lo, New York

World Canal Conference, Buffalo, NY, 24 Sept 25

The World Canal Con­fer­ence held in Buf­fa­lo, New York, Sept. 21–25, 2025, fea­tured par­tic­i­pants from more than 11 coun­tries and 22 states to com­mem­o­rate the 200th anniver­sary of the com­ple­tion of the Erie Canal.
 
Here are a few pho­tos from this event, which cel­e­brat­ed the engi­neer­ing achieve­ments of canals from Scot­land to Chi­na and the envi­ron­men­tal and human resources that canals of all shapes and sizes in the 21st cen­tu­ry con­tin­ue to provide.

Authors Mar­i­lyn Hig­gins and Lau­rie Lawlor, exhibitors at the Erie Canal Bicen­ten­ni­al, Buf­fa­lo, New York

Dreams of Free­dom by Mar­i­lyn Hig­gins and Many Voic­es: Build­ing Erie, the Canal that Changed Amer­i­ca, in their out­door exhib­it space at the Erie Canal Bicen­ten­ni­al, Buf­fa­lo, New York

A costumed visitor at the Erie Canal Bicentennial with Laurie Lawlor

A cos­tumed vis­i­tor at the Erie Canal Bicen­ten­ni­al in Buf­fa­lo, New York, with author Lau­rie Lawlor

Laurie Lawlor with the replica of the Seneca Chief, which first traversed the Erie Canal in 1825.

Lau­rie Lawlor stand­ing next to the Seneca Chief, a full-sized repli­ca of the boat which tra­versed the Erie Canal when it opened in 1825. The Buf­fa­lo Mar­itime Cen­ter head­ed up this project, which cul­mi­nat­ed in a trip from Buf­fa­lo to New York Har­bor. Read more about this project.

a representation of Sal, the mule that accompanied boats on the Erie Canal

A deject­ed Sal, the mule made famous in the song, “Low Bridge.”

Book Release Party, Book Stall, 13 Sept 2025

I was so pleased to have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to cel­e­brate the dou­ble birth­day of the Erie Canal and my new non­fic­tion, Many Voic­es, Build­ing Erie, the Canal that Changed Amer­i­ca on Sat­ur­day, 13 Sep­tem­ber 2025. The staff at The Book Stall in Win­net­ka (IL) were wel­com­ing and gra­cious. Thanks to the book com­mu­ni­ty and my fam­i­ly for join­ing us. More details in the pho­tos, tak­en by Megan Beau­doin and Eliz­a­beth from The Book Stall (the cake and me). If you would like a signed copy of the book, please con­tact The Book Stall.

Laurie Lawlor at The Book Stall for her book release party for Many Voices

Thanks to The Book Stall for host­ing this cel­e­bra­tion of my most recent book: Many Voic­es, Build­ing Erie, the Canal That Changed Amer­i­ca (Hol­i­day House).

Full house at the Book Stall for the book release party

Full house at The Book Stall for pre­sen­ta­tion, ques­tion and answer, auto­graph­ing and cake.

Three generations of the Lawlor family at the Book Release Party at The Book Stall

Small group pic­ture includes my grand­daugh­ters, daugh­ter, and her moth­er-in-law and father-in-law. Three generations.

A closeup of the 200th Anniversary cake celebrating the Erie Canal at Laurie Lawlor's book release party for Many Voices

Cake with 200th birth­day and “a mule named Sal—a good old work­er and a good old pal.” (from the song: “15 Years on the Erie Canal.”) The cake was deli­cious­ly made by Tag’s Bak­ery in Evanston (IL).

Erie Canal Museum, Syracuse, NY, 28 Aug 2025

I enjoyed a won­der­ful vis­it to the Erie Canal Muse­um, Syra­cuse, NY on August 28. To help cel­e­brate the 200th anniver­sary of the canal’s com­ple­tion, a great group gath­ered in per­son at the muse­um and on zoom from across the coun­try for my talk on engi­neer­ing mar­vels and cre­ative solu­tions enti­tled “Go Ahead Any­way.” Part of the Sloan Lec­ture Series, this illus­trat­ed dis­cus­sion explored the many dif­fer­ent con­tri­bu­tions of engi­neers and the men, women, and chil­dren who helped build the canal. Shared were insights from my new non­fic­tion, Many Voic­es, Build­ing Erie, the Canal that Changed Amer­i­ca.

What a thrill at the lec­ture to meet long-time Syra­cuse res­i­dent Sarah Sheffield White, whose great uncle, Can­vass White, was a key engi­neer in the Erie Canal’s com­ple­tion. She’s shown here (left) with an image of her great uncle.

Can­vass White began his career as a sur­vey­or and engi­neer by tak­ing a trip to Eng­land in 1817 to study the con­struc­tion of British canals. Along with the invalu­able knowl­edge he gained dur­ing his trav­els, he brought home many resources which are now being stew­ard­ed by the Erie Canal Muse­um. Archives include Can­vass White’s struc­tur­al draw­ings, sur­vey maps, and books that he saved and were passed down through his fam­i­ly. These mate­ri­als will be avail­able for on-site research. 

Erie Canal Museum staff and Laurie Lawlor

Many thanks for my invi­ta­tion to Der­rick Pratt, Direc­tor of Edu­ca­tion and Pub­lic Pro­grams at the Erie Canal Muse­um. I was delight­ed to have a chance to see the new Can­vass White archives dur­ing my vis­it. Shown here (left to right): Steph Adams, Direc­tor of Inter­pre­ta­tions; Amie Flani­gan, Archivist and Col­lec­tions Man­ag­er, and Lau­rie Lawlor.

A close inspec­tion of the Erie Canal Muse­um’s mural.

Pewaukee Public School System, 30 Apr 2024

Richard Graef
Richard Graef

Edu­ca­tor and musi­cian Richard Graef and I vis­it­ed Pewau­kee, Wisconsin’s ten fifth grade classes.

In an assem­bly, we pre­sent­ed a “Cre­ative Process” dis­cus­sion of how Beethoven cre­at­ed his mag­nif­i­cent work and how Nan­nette Stre­ich­er col­lab­o­rat­ed as piano builder and designer.

Richard Graef did a won­der­ful job pro­vid­ing the stu­dents with an oppor­tu­ni­ty to see the ways in which anoth­er musi­cal instru­ment, the flute, has devel­oped and adapt­ed over the centuries.

He has had inspir­ing, first-hand expe­ri­ence per­form­ing Beethoven’s 9th Sym­pho­ny with the Chica­go Sym­pho­ny on many dif­fer­ent occa­sions. The chil­dren heard Mr. Graef play flute selec­tions from the Pas­toral Sym­pho­ny (Beethoven’s 6th), fea­tur­ing the wood­land birds such as cuck­oo and the nightin­gale — all amaz­ing birds that Beethoven encoun­tered on his walks in nature.

What a plea­sure to present What Music! with the amaz­ing insights of a pro­fes­sion­al musi­cian, a true expert and enthu­si­ast of Beethoven and his musi­cal com­po­si­tions. I learned so much!

Richard Graef and Laurie Lawlor, Exploring the Creative Process
Richard Graef and Lau­rie Lawlor, Explor­ing the Cre­ative Process
Richard Graef and Laurie Lawlor
Richard Graef and Lau­rie Lawlor, co-presenters
Looking in depth at the piano
Look­ing in depth at the piano

The pho­to below is from my class­room vis­its to the 10 fifth grade groups, who par­tic­i­pat­ed in a writ­ing work­shop exer­cise and an in-depth dis­cus­sion about revis­ing. I pro­vid­ed back­ground on how writ­ers dis­cov­er, devel­op, and research ideas for nonfiction.

Ter­rif­ic vis­its with near­ly 300 eager read­ers and music enthu­si­asts from Hori­zon Ele­men­tary School, Pewau­kee, WI!

Talking with fifth grade students about Ludwig van Beethoven and Nannette Streicher
Talk­ing with fifth grade stu­dents about
Lud­wig van Beethoven and Nan­nette Streicher

Illinois Reads Author Luncheon, 15 Mar 2024

Illinois Reads Author Luncheon Springfield IL
Illi­nois Reads Author Lun­cheon Spring­field IL
My table at the Illinois Reads Author Luncheon Springfield IL
My table at the Illi­nois Reads Author Lun­cheon Spring­field IL

Anderson’s Children’s Literature Breakfast, 24 February 2024

Laurie Lawlor at Anderson's Children's Literature Breakfast
Ter­rif­ic Chil­dren’s Lit­er­a­ture Break­fast 2024 spon­sored by Ander­son­’s Book­shops on Feb­ru­ary 24 with 45 local Illi­nois authors and a sold-out crowd of more than 500 won­der­ful teach­ers and librarians. 
Anderson's Bookshops Breakfast
Thanks to Ander­son­’s and to the amaz­ing Illi­nois authors and keynote speak­ers, Andrea Beat­ty, Kate DiCamil­lo, Lisa Yee, John Patrick Green, and Kazu Kibuishi.

Westmont High School, 3 February 2024

Lau­rie Lawlor fea­tures Restor­ing Prairie, Woods, and Pond at West­mont High School for Illi­nois Reads
Laurie Lawlor Restoring Prairie Woods and Pond
They made a poster! Cel­e­brat­ing Restor­ing Prairie, Woods, and Pond at Illi­nois Reads, West­mont High School

The Book Stall, 9 December 2023

What Music at The Book Stall
The Book Stall, Win­net­ka, pro­vid­ed a won­der­ful hol­i­day venue for a pre­sen­ta­tion, read­ing, and sign­ing of What Music! The Fifty-Year Friend­ship between Beethoven and Nan­nette Stre­ich­er on Decem­ber 9, 2023.

Anderson’s Bookshop, 8 December 2023

Sneak Peek at Anderson's Bookshop
Sneak Peeks event on Decem­ber 8th, spon­sored by Illi­nois Reads at Ander­son­’s Book­shop in Down­ers Grove, IL, includ­ed many won­der­ful authors for read­ers of all ages who shared their books. Restor­ing Prairie, Woods and Pond How a Small Trail Can Make a Big Dif­fer­ence is includ­ed on the Illi­nois Reads List.

Conference: From Head to Heart: Caring for the Environment through Science, Stories, and Action, 8 November 2023

John F Kennedy Center Conference
Our group of speak­ers under the pres­i­den­tial seal (L to R): Lau­rie Lawlor, Ani­ta Sanchez, Melis­sa Stew­art, Matt Pat­ter­son, Sy Montgomery
John F. Kennedy Center Conference Laurie Lawlor
Lau­rie Lawlor in here “Meet the Author” ses­sion, with a small­er group and discussion
JFK Con­fer­ence authors (l to r): Sy Mont­gomery, Matt Peter­son, Ani­ta Sanchez, Lau­rie Lawlor, Melis­sa Stewart
Kennedy Conference
On Novem­ber 8, 2023, John F. Kennedy Pres­i­den­tial Library and Muse­um in Boston spon­sored a con­fer­ence for teach­ers and librar­i­ans called “From Head to Heart Car­ing for the Envi­ron­ment through Sci­ence, Sto­ries, and Action.” This in-per­son con­fer­ence offered edu­ca­tors and librar­i­ans strate­gies, tools, and inspi­ra­tion to cul­ti­vate envi­ron­men­tal empa­thy and fos­ter a deep­er under­stand­ing of cli­mate change and envi­ron­men­tal chal­lenges. As part of the event, authors offered a pan­el dis­cus­sion and work­shops to pro­vide insights into the cre­ation of non­fic­tion books to inspire young read­ers. A won­der­ful group of ener­getic librar­i­ans and teach­ers had books signed at the end of the event.

The Book Stall, Winnetka, IL, 10 July 2023

Laurie Lawlor at The Book Stall
At The Book Stall on July 10, 2023, in Win­net­ka, IL, Go Green Reads! spon­sored a dis­cus­sion of Restor­ing Prairie, Woods, and Pond How a Small Trail Can Make a Big Dif­fer­ence. A full house! What a great group of local envi­ron­men­tal enthu­si­asts. Very inspir­ing. Co-spon­sored by Go Green!, an envi­ron­men­tal action group, with chap­ters in Win­net­ka and Wil­mette, focus­ing on sus­tain­abil­i­ty issues and edu­ca­tion to help save the planet. 

ALA Annual Conference, 22–27 June 2023

Panel sign ALA Conference 2023
Our pan­el intro­duc­ing the new Hol­i­day House series Books for a Bet­ter Earth.
ALA Panel Members
Our Books for a Bet­ter World pan­el at ALA on June 26th: Mary Cash (left), Exec­u­tive Edi­tor, Hol­i­day House; Lau­rie Lawlor (mid­dle), author of Restor­ing Prairie, Woods, and Pond; and author Jes­si­ca Stremer, author of Great Car­ri­er Reef.
Holiday House Booth June 2023 ALA Conference
At the Hol­i­day House booth (ALA Con­fer­ence 2023) (l. to r.) edi­tor Sal­ly Mogridge, author Jes­si­ca Stremer, author Lau­rie Lawlor, exec­u­tive edi­tor Mary Cash.
Laurie Lawlor signing books at Holiday House booth at ALA Conference 2023
Lau­rie Lawlor sign­ing books at Hol­i­day House booth at ALA Con­fer­ence 2023

Waukesha Co. Land Conservancy, 31 May 2023

Wauke­sha Coun­ty Land Con­ser­van­cy’s annu­al meet­ing on May 31, 2023, in Delafield, Wis­con­sin, cel­e­brat­ed land and water pro­tec­tion. To date, this orga­ni­za­tion has helped pro­tect 3,000 acres in Wauke­sha Coun­ty. Lau­rie Lawlor auto­graphed Restor­ing Prairie, Woods, and Pond How a Small Trail Can Make a Big Dif­fer­ence, her recent book that pro­files Eagle Nature Trail in Wauke­sha County.

Eagle Nature Trail Celebration, 20 May 2023

Laurie Lawlor and Dawn-Marie Staccia outside Eagle Nature Trail in Wisconsin
Lau­rie Lawlor and pho­tog­ra­ph­er Dawn-Marie Stac­cia pic­tured out­side the Eagle Nature Trail Cel­e­bra­tion, spon­sored in part by the Alice Bak­er Memo­r­i­al Library. 20 May 2023.

Society of Midland Authors Award, 10 May 2022

Me and Car­ol Marin, long-time Chica­go jour­nal­ist and pro­gram Mas­ter of Cer­e­monies, at the May 10, 2022 Annu­al Ban­quet and Awards Pre­sen­ta­tion for the Soci­ety of Mid­land Authors at the Cliff Dwellers in Chica­go. I was delight­ed to receive the Chil­dren’s Read­ing Round Table Hon­or Award for Chil­dren’s Non­fic­tion for Fear­less World Trav­el­er: Adven­tures of Mar­i­anne North, Botan­i­cal Artist (Hol­i­day House, 2021).

Big Tree Down! Storybook Stroll, Eagle, WI

Eagle Nature Trail
A won­der­ful day at Eagle Nature Trail, Eagle, WI with the third grade class read­ing Big Tree Down! on a sto­ry­book stroll, Sept. 24, 2021. More than 119 young read­ers enjoyed the trail and the pic­ture book. Bra­vo to all!
Outdoor facility
Eagle Ele­men­tary has an out­door space that worked well for my presentation.
Eagle Elementary School
Thanks to the engaged stu­dents and teach­ers at Eagle Ele­men­tary School!
Laurie Lawlor

Invite Lau­rie Lawlor to speak at your library, school, book club, envi­ron­men­tal action group, book­store, fes­ti­val, writ­ing con­fer­ence, or com­mu­ni­ty event. In per­son or virtually.