April 2026: Hibner Receives Media Coverage
Perry Hibner, author of Centennial Revisited: An Oral History of the Epic TV Miniseries, has had stories written about his new book in four newspapers over the past few weeks with a fourth scheduled to do so soon and also did a radio interview in late April.
Hibner was interviewed on The Elijah Haahr Show on KWTO (560 AM) in Springfield, Mo. on Thursday, April 23. The show airs weekdays from 4 to 6 p.m. Hibner’s segment lasted 10 minutes and included questions about why he wrote the book, some of the chats with cast and crew he enjoyed the most, and why he thinks readers will enjoy the book.
The Portage Daily Register ran a story in March. The article was written by John Gittings. Hibner is a Portage native, attended parochial school at St. Mary’s Catholic School through eighth grade and graduated from Portage High School in 1982. He will be holding an author event at the Portage Public Library on May 20.
Another story ran in the Middleton-Cross Plains Times-Tribune on April 16. The story in the weekly publication was written by editor Alec Finger. Hibner has lived in Middleton since 1997. He is the former communications director for the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District. He was recognized as a Middleton Good Neighbor Award winner in 2019. He will be holding an author event at the Rosmary Garfoot Public Library in Cross Plains in August.
A third story ran in the Greeley Tribune and Loveland Reporter-Herald on April 15. The story was written by Chris Bolin. The piece not only included details about Hibner’s work creating the book but also information about author events he held in Greeley at the LINC Library on April 17 and the Voices of Colorado in Loveland on April 18. Hibner plans to return to the area this summer, likely, in July to hold more author events.
The Star, a weekly newspaper that covers Sun Prairie, Marshall, DeForest and Windsor, is planning to publish a story about Centennial Revisited in early May. Hibner retired in 2021 but has been serving as the interim director of communications and engagement for the Sun Prairie Area School District since late January.
“I am honored and grateful for the coverage of the book,’’ Hibner said. “There are millions of Centennial fans. They loved the book by James A. Michener and the 26-hour miniseries. I truly believe if we can make them aware of this oral history book, and all of the great stories the cast, crew and others shared with me, they will want to make it a part of their collection.’’
All of the articles are available online but most are behind a paywall so you will need an account to access them:
Portage Daily Register: Portage author and former newspaper editor revisits ‘Centennial with new book (embed this link: https://wiscnews.com/news/local/article_72cb389f-ed90-4ae1-8fdf-c75c7c1325b7.html)
Greeley Tribune: Author to host events for book on ‘Centennial’ in Greeley, northern Colorado (embed this link: https://www.greeleytribune.com/2026/04/15/cemtennial-revisited-oral-history-book/)
Middleton-Cross Plains Times-Tribune: Local author chronicles classic miniseries in new book (embed this link: https://middletontimes.com/articles/2026/04/15/local-author-chronicles-classic-miniseries-new-book)
The Mail (Marshfield, Mo.): Author Perry Hibner … Centennial Revisited: An Oral History of the Epic TV Miniseries (embed this link): https://marshfieldmail.com/stories/author-perry-hibner-centennial-revisited-an-oral-history-of-the-epic-tv-mini-series,80520
