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Please join artist and Middletown native, Andrew Hurst, for a special event to mark the 40th anniversary of the Three Mile Island (T.M.I.) accident and preview material from his forthcoming book project titled Boy and Island. The book weighs in on the T.M.I. accident and its impact on local citizens, unveiling the previously untold story of his family’s incredible journey in search of sanity and justice on the frontline of a nuclear nightmare. Hurst was six-years-old when the accident occurred in 1979, while his father, James Hurst, was a founding member of PANE (People Against Nuclear Energy). PANE’s mission to hold T.M.I.’s owners and operators accountable for psychological and emotional trauma went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. In waging this war the Hurst family found themselves in an astounding series of circumstances that uprooted their lives and led them to seek refuge in strange places, leading to encounters with remarkable people. Hurst’s first-person account of these experiences is sensitively crafted with rich poetic insights from his insider’s perspective.
Boy and Island also examines the ways the T.M.I. experience has impacted Hurst’s creative instincts as an artist and how it has shaped his character as an adult. Ultimately, Hurst sees Boy and Island functioning as a story that transcends the confines of the T.M.I. issue by mining the tragedy for unconventional wisdom and forward thinking about place, family, and social justice.
Hurst says, “I want to focus on the human element of this story, honor the strength of individuals who stand up for what they believe, and to pay tribute to my mother and father, and all the mothers and fathers of the area care-giving for us children under the extreme circumstances that the accident at T.M.I. created. Now as an adult I want to pay my respects by telling this story as it has never been told before.”
The artist will screen a mini-documentary previewing archival material that he has unearthed in his research. A Q&A and reading will follow featuring excerpts from his progress on the book thus far.
Andrew Hurst is an artist, musician, and writer based in New York City. He is a 1992 graduate of Middletown Area High School. He received a BFA with teacher’s certification from West Virginia University in 1997, and an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute in 2001.
For more information
Email:andrewbartonhurst@gmail.com
Phone: (917) 969 0965
Web: www.andrewhurst.net
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