I have come to the conclusion that Walt Disney is an inexhaustible subject. Every time I think I’ve read everything there is to know about the man and his career I’m surprised by a new book, video, or blog post. Just keeping up with the prodigious output of Bob McLain’s Theme Park Press is enough to keep 
any Disneyphile busy and fill any number of bookshelves, along with the ongoing releases from Disney Editions and Chronicle Books. Even Taschen, the preeminent publisher of lavish, oversized coffee-table volumes, has a giant Disney tome on the way. (Full disclosure: I am a contributor.)
Garry Apgar, whose books include The Mickey Mouse Reader (University Press of Mississippi) and Mickey Mouse: Emblem of the American Spirit (Walt Disney Family Museum), lives in Bridgeport, Connecticut and recently wrote a lengthy, well-researched article about Walt’s unlikely (and largely unknown) ties to his home state for Connecticut magazine, ranging from Ingersoll Watches to Yale University to Pez. I can’t resist sharing it piece with you.
It begins, “Walt Disney was born in Illinois, raised in Missouri and lived his entire adult life in California. No other state — other than Florida, of course — can lay meaningful claim to Disney in any way. Except, that is, for Connecticut, which boasts many fascinating links to the man who sired Mickey Mouse, including some surprising connections to his signature character.”
To read the piece and see its rare illustrations, just click HERE.
