Atlas Obscura Co-Founder Dylan Thuras Celebrates New Book at UW-Milwaukee

Before he co-founded the Atlas Obscura website and co-authored the New York Times Bestseller Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders, Dylan Thuras was a wide-eyed 12-year-old boy exploring the bizarre collections and eccentric oddities contained in the House on the Rock in Wisconsin. Wonders like the world’s largest indoor carousel, a room that seemingly extends into infinity and a sculpture of a terrifying whale longer than the Statue of Liberty is tall, filled Thuras with amazement. 

“Seeing this incredible, unbelievable place filled with wild and amazing things just sparked something in me,” Thuras said. “I thought, ‘If this is what’s in the woods of Wisconsin, what is in the world?’ We started Atlas Obscura to inspire that sense of curiosity and wonder that I had as a 12-year-old.” 

Over 140 people attended “An Evening with Atlas Obscura’s Dylan Thuras” in the Golda Meir Library Conference Center to celebrate the second edition of Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders. The evening featured a presentation by Thuras, a trivia contest and a book signing.  

The New York Times called Atlas Obscura, “A wanderlust-whetting cabinet of curiosities on paper.” The book shows where places are and what you can do there, and gives the historical context behind each location. Not only will Atlas Obscura show you where to find the decrepit ruins of the Church of Saint Simeon the Stylite in Syria, but it will also give you the history of how Simeon stood on a pillar for 37 years; he only allowed himself to sleep upright and preached to anyone who listened. 

The Atlas Obscura website has an ever-growing digital world map with over 18,000 user-submitted obscure and wondrous locations; everything from abandoned Communist monuments in the Bulgarian mountains to Nicolas Cage’s pyramid tomb in New Orleans. 

“All kinds of places that maybe don’t make it into your normal guidebooks that are truly amazing and worthy of celebration,” said Thuras. “The mission of Atlas Obscura is to inspire a sense of wonder and curiosity about this world that we all share.” 

The event was co-sponsored by Boswell Book Company and the American Geographical Society Library (AGSL). Originally intended to be hosted in the AGS Library located on the Golda Meir Library’s third floor, the unexpectedly large amount of registrations made a more spacious venue necessary. 

The AGSL has been at UW-Milwaukee for over 40 years and houses a historic collection of maps, atlases, geospatial data and other geographical resources. Hundreds of globes are displayed in the library, including one from 1613, and houses one of the only three surviving maps drawn in 1452 by Venetian cartographer Giovanni Leardo. 

“We support research and teaching here at the university across all disciplines,” said Marcy Bidney, the curator for the AGSL. “But then also we have a world-wide reach. Because of the nature of our collections, we have researchers coming from all around the world to use the collections.” 

These researchers are studying anything from art history by looking at the maps as pieces of artwork to the history of cartography itself and everything in between. Many UWM students use the collection for school and special projects, and some UWM professors teach their classes in the library. 

In 2015, Atlas Obscura published a story featuring the American Geographical Society Library, calling it a “geographer’s treasure trove” and “one of the most incredible collections of maps, atlases and globes to be found in America.” Since then, the AGSL has seen an increase in the number of curious explorers coming in to observe its collection. 

“Nine times out of ten these days it’s that they saw it [the AGSL] on Atlas Obscura,” Bidney said. “I’m totally grateful for the traffic that they bring us.” 

Some of the maps from the AGSL were on display at the event. The maps were all related to certain obscure locations and historical entries from Atlas Obscura. Each map was carefully chosen by Jovanka Ristic, the reference librarian for the AGSL, and UWM Student Georgia Brown. 

The trivia contest was the main portion of the night. Members of the audience formed teams with people sitting around them and selected a single representative. A random representative was chosen by Thuras to stand in front of the crowd and answer the question; they remained for the next question if they answered correctly, otherwise a new representative was picked. 

Thuras kicked off the trivia by asking how the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam is combating the devastating overpopulation of Brown Tree Snakes on the Island and gave four possible answers. While importing snake-eating mongooses or paying locals for killing snakes with special machetes sound like reasonable answers, the correct one is far more outlandish – dropping thousands of mice poisoned with Tylenol wearing tiny parachutes from helicopters. 

The question categories included animals, science, American roadside attractions, and random facts that Thuras found particularly interesting. Every question had something to do with a place featured in Atlas Obscura or the website. Alexa Merriwether, a Graphic Design graduate from Milwaukee Area Technical College, ended the contest with the longest winning streak of seven correct answers. 

Attendees lined up to get their book signed by Thuras at the end of the night. Besides signing his name, he briefly talked with each person and asked them about an obscure place they’ve been to, or of a favorite moment they had while traveling.