Author Lecture – “The Man Who Owned a Wonder of the World”
Author Evan “Josh” Albright will present a lecture on his book The Man Who Owned a Wonder of the World: The Gringo History of Mexico’s Chichén Itzá, on Thursday, February 11th at 7pm at the Library. The event is free, but seat reservations are recommended by calling the Library at 508-548-4709.
In 2007 the ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá in Yucatán, Mexico, was named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. The honor came with a shocking revelation — Mexico’s greatest archaeological treasure was private property!
How could one family come to own one of the archaeological crown jewels of Mexico? The answer was more incredible: they had bought the ancient city from an American, Edward H. Thompson of West Falmouth, Mass., who had owned Chichén for half a century.
Thompson, an archaeologist, explored Chichén and had made one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in North America. All it cost him was his reputation, his fortune, and even his life.
In The Man Who Owned a Wonder of the World: The Gringo History of Mexico’s Chichén Itzá, local writer Evan J. Albright travels to Yucatan to investigate Thompson’s incredible true story and stumbles upon Thompson’s biggest secret–the son he left behind.
Authir Bio: Evan “Josh” Albright is a freelance writer based on Cape Cod. Over the course of the decade spent researching The Man Who Owned a Wonder of the World, Albright traveled to Switzerland, England, the Netherlands, as well as to archives throughout the United States, notably in Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Boston/Cambridge. Albright also made annual research trips to the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.
Albright is the author of Cape Cod Confidential: True Tales of Murder, Crime, and Scandal from the Pilgrims to the Present and of the forthcoming sequel, Cape Cod Babylon: True Tales of Murder, Crime, and Scandal among the Rich and Famous. In an earlier life he was an editor and reporter for several Cape Cod newspapers, winning more than two dozen journalism awards including honors for investigative reporting, editorial writing, and general excellence.