The World's Strongest Librarian to Visit Brigham City

The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family

1 October 2013 at 7 p.m.

Josh Hanagarne couldn't be invisible if he tried. Although he wouldn't officially be diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome until his freshman year of high school, Josh was six years old and onstage in a school Thanksgiving play when he first began exhibiting symptoms. By the time he was twenty, the young Mormon had reached his towering adult height of 6'7"  when, while serving on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, his Tourette's tics escalated to nightmarish levels.  Determined to conquer his affliction, Josh underwent everything from quack remedies to lethargy-inducing drug regimes to Botox injections that paralyzed his vocal cords and left him voiceless for three years. Undeterred, Josh persevered to marry and earn a degree in Library Science. At last, an eccentric, autistic strongman and former Air Force Tech Sergeant and guard at an Iraqi prison taught Josh how to  throttle  his tics into submission through strength-training.

Today, Josh is a librarian in the main branch of Salt Lake City s public library and founder of a popular blog about books and weight lifting and the proud father of four-year-old Max, who has already started to show his own symptoms of Tourette's.  The World s Strongest Librarian illuminates the mysteries of this little-understood disorder, as well as the very different worlds of strongman training and modern libraries. With humor and candor, this unlikely hero traces his journey to overcome his disability  and navigate his wavering Mormon faith to find love and create a life worth living.

To see the book trailer for The World's Strongest Librarian, click here.

A book signing will follow.

This program is part of the Brigham City Library Book Festival* 
 

Celebrating Books, Ideas, and Imagination

October 2013

In Partnership with the Utah Humanities Council and the Utah Humanities Book Festival, a program of the Utah Center for the Book, a Library of Congress affiliate.

*This program has received funding from the Utah Humanities Council.  The Utah Humanities Council promotes understanding of diverse traditions, values, and ideas through informed public discussion.