Using his almost-finished tenth book, The Prairie: Then and Now, Dr. Dan Guillory, Professor Emeritus of Millikin University, will give attention devoted to the first Caucasian visitors who arrived when the big bluestem towered upwards of ten feet in some places.  He will also spend time on more recent and contemporary inhabitants of this unique landform.  The theme is the transformative power of the prairie, the way it defines our perspective on ourselves and the way we live, the way it changes our imagination.  Prof. Guillory has recently presented this program at two previous venues in Decatur, and, just recently, in Carlyle, Illinois at the Clinton Co. Historical Society.  He will read poems and use large-scale photographs to enhance his talk. You are cordially invited to attend and help celebrate the Illinois Bicentennial, which could not exist without the Prairie.