Author and public broadcaster Lisa Napoli spent the last five years researching Ray and Joan Kroc. She says the McDonald’s founder and his philanthropic wife have deep roots in Illinois and Peoria.Credit Lisa Napoli / FacebookEdit | RemoveAuthor and public broadcaster Lisa Napoli is speaking on her book “Ray and Joan” tonight at the Peoria Public Library Main Branch. Napoli has studied the McDonald’s founder Ray and his philanthropic wife Joan Kroc for the last five years before the release of her book late last year. Napoli says it’s a great story with Illinois and Peoria roots.
“I hope that anyone who has any connections to either the early McDonald’s or Sandy’s which is what that McDonald’s became or Prince Castle comes out and says hello. But anybody who has nothing to do with any of those things whose just seen a McDonald’s or listens to public radio and knows that Joan gave public radio a massive transformative gift at the time of her death, I think they will find this story really really interesting.”
The gift Joan Kroc left NPR in 2003 is the largest financial contribution the company ever received. Napoli is speaking at the Peoria Public Library Main Branch at 6:00 tonight and will follow it with a book signing. Peoria, Chillicothe and Dunlap Public Library Systems joined together to bring Napoli for the author talk.
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