Author Talk With Larry Lankton, "Motor City Boomer: The Car Culture That Defined A Generation"

Join us at Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation for an afternoon conversation with Larry Lankton, Ph.D., historian and author of Motor City Boomer: The Car Culture That Defined a Generation, moderated by Matt Anderson, Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford.

Following the August 18 release of Motor City Boomer (Wayne State University Press), Lankton returns to The Henry Ford, where he served as Curator of Power and Shop Machinery from 1971 to 1973, for one of the first public conversations about his new book. As the institution where he helped interpret automotive history, The Henry Ford provides a meaningful setting to deepen a conversation about the automobile's lasting influence on American life.

Blending personal memoir with social, automotive and cultural history, Motor City Boomer traces the experiences, traditions and freedoms that defined postwar America — from family road trips and first driver's licenses to drive-ins, cruising, suburban growth and Lankton's beloved 1964 Pontiac GTO. Drawing on vivid personal recollections alongside the broader history of the American automobile, Lankton presents a cultural history of postwar America through the lens of an innovation that transformed everyday life.

Together, Lankton and Anderson will consider how the automobile influenced not only the way Americans traveled, but also where they lived, how they connected and the culture and communities they created, inviting audiences to reflect on its enduring generational impact.
The conversation will be followed by a brief Q&A and book signing with the opportunity to purchase a copy of Motor City Boomer.