The Birthplace Book: A Guide to Birth Sites of Famous People, Places, and Things

by Chris Epting

More than 380 birthplaces profiled Birthplaces of all 44 presidents Packed with photos of people and places Elvis, blue jeans, Abraham Lincoln, plutonium, Slinkys, Frank Sinatra, Cobb salad, Superman, Lucille Ball, e-mail, baseball, Mark Twain, flight, McDonalds, and hundreds of other notable people and things all have birthplaces. Some are gone and marked only by a plaque, but others have been preserved and even transformed into museums. This guidebook is packed with entries on American birthplaces of all sorts, taking travelers state-by-state to a variety of locations.

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

A pop culture (and baseball) history aficionado, Chris has a lifelong penchant for documenting the exact sites where things both great and small occurred. As an author, Epting has found that unearthing and chronicling ‘hidden’ locations offers him a challenge. What began as an inquisitive hobby soon developed into the writing and photographing of 14 books based on his discoveries, including James Dean Died Here…The Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks, Elvis Presley Passed Here, Even More Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks, Images of America – the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Roadside Baseball, The Ruby Slippers, Madonna's Bra, and Einstein's Brain: The Locations of America's Pop Culture Artifacts and Led Zeppelin Crashed Here.

As an extension of his efforts to chronicle the unique, Epting joins Hampton Hotels for a fourth exciting year as national spokesperson and consultant for the Hidden Landmarks program in support of the brand’s national “Explore the Highway with Hampton Save-A-Landmark™” campaign (the program recently won the President’s award). He was also recently national spokesman for the launch of Microsoft Windows Live Local travel web site and is the current spokesman for EMusic.com, an online music download company.

Chris is a frequent featured guest on numerous radio and television programs such as National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” “The Savvy Traveler,” “Access Hollywood” and FOX TV’s the “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” plus international programs in Australia, Japan and the U.K.

He has contributed articles for such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Westways, Travel + Leisure and Preservation magazine, and was the Travel Editor for Chicken Soup for the Soul Magazine. He also writes and voices a series for Major League Baseball Radio, and writes a weekly column for the Huntington Beach Independent newspaper and a monthly feature in Orange Coast magazine. Chris hosts The Pop Culture Road Trip radio show on webtalkradio.net and his 14th book, “The Birthplace Book,” comes out in Spring ‘09.

Chris lives in Huntington Beach, CA with his wife and their two children.

Reviews

[Paul G.]

Excellent from an amazing researcher...

Thus book is filled with amazing info on important people and inventions. Once you start it, it’s hard to stop. The narration is done in a captivating way that leaves you not wanting the book to end.

[Jj Kwashnak]

Interesting if scatter shot of the birth of famous people and things (chain restaurants, food). Unfortunately, many items are now gone, only an address remains as a result of progress. Do we lose something with the destruction of the first of a chain restaurant? Probably not, but when something gets to be a household name, it can be nice to think that it started somewhere that we can go visit, or even go eat at the original "X" restaurant, small and humble as it may be. Still fun.

[Suzanne]

Must look at anytime I am going on vacation. It is amazing what America has to offer!