FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A lecture series that examined “The Famous and Infamous” of Utah’s U.S. Highway 89 and celebrated the history of the six counties along the historic route has won an award from the Utah Humanities Council.

Sponsored by the Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance and Sanpete County Heritage Council, the lecture series focused on people who lived in or had an impact on the cities and towns along U.S. Highway 89. The lectures, held last winter and this spring, were given by professors and educators and were presented in Sanpete, Sevier, Piute, Kane, Wayne and Garfield counties.

The talks were free and open to the public. Topics focused on historical personalities such as Utah artist Avard Fairbanks, Butch Cassidy, Hyrum BeBee, and John D. Lee. There was also a presentation on how the famous and infamous of U.S. 89 were depicted by Hollywood.

The Humanities Council recognized the series during its annual awards dinner.

The lectures were also filmed by KBYU-Channel 11 and will later be included in a documentary that will be distributed to the media during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games to promote the Heritage Highway.