Stephen Fried wants Kansas City to remember the Harvey family

Kansas City just can’t get enough of author Stephen Fried. The Pennsylvania-based journalist attracted a standing room-only crowd last year at the Kansas City National Archives when he gave a presentation based on his hardcover biography, Appetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire That Civilized the Wild West.

Fred Harvey (1835-1901) wasn’t just the first truly great restaurateur in the United States, he created a business that was a major Kansas City corporation for the first half of the 20th century. “The problem,” says Fried, “is that the story of Harvey family has been all but erased from Kansas City history.”

Fried is trying to correct that. He’ll return to town on Thursday, May 19 to sign the softcover version of his book and speak at the Central branch of the Kansas City Public Library.