Ragtime Kid author Larry Karp April 28, 2011

A mystery set in 1899 in Sedalia, Missouri, The Ragtime Kid weaves the story of a white teenage pianist who implicates his idol, Scott Joplin, in a crime. The Friends of the Crowell Public Library are honored to have the author, LARRY KARP, in person on Thursday evening, April 28th at 7:00 p.m. in the Library’s Barth Community Room. Larry Karp grew up in Paterson, New Jersey and New York City. In 1995, he left medical work to write mysteries full time. Larry's books have been finalists for the Daphne and Spotted Owl Awards, and have appeared on the Los Angeles Times (The Ragtime Kid, December 2006) and Seattle Times (The King of Ragtime, November 2008) Fiction Best-Seller Lists. Larry lives in Seattle with his wife, Myra.

The Ragtime Kid blends fiction and history, examining social attitudes and racial relations at the birth, death, and revival of ragtime music in America. The story begins when white music store owner John Stark is made the extraordinary and unexplained offer of a royalties contract for a tune, "Maple Leaf Rag," by a young, little-known black composer named Scott Joplin.