The City of Perry played host to a very famous Iowan Thursday, as retired wrestler and wrestling coach Dan Gable was in town for the Dallas County Reads One Book event.

Gable arrived in the morning after being in Orlando, Florida, and spoke to the students at Perry High School. Though he wasn’t sure everyone in that audience knew who he was, what he did know was they were interested in what he had to say. “You can tell when you captivate an audience. And I felt like that audience was tuned in to what I was saying. And because of that, I probably spoke a little longer than maybe the school wanted, but I felt it went really well. I’ve done enough speaking in my life, when things aren’t going so good, I kind of shut it off quick. But I didn’t have to shut it off at all.”

After leaving the school, Gable was taken by Perry Library Director Mary Murphy, who played host for the whole event, on a tour of the public library. Some of the children at the library knew who he was, and as a result they held an impromptu meet and greet for them. The official meet and greet was held at Hotel Pattee, with several people from around Dallas County attending the ticketed event. Attendees got things signed and were able to chat with Gable. He was happy to meet and talk with each of them. “You know, it’s almost like these people have been my relatives, or my friends. I’m not sure! I’m really impressed with some of the comments, and more than that, it’s just the feeling that I get.”

The final event of the day was back at the high school in the performing arts center. Gable gave a speech to the large crowd about wrestling and life, and afterwards answered some questions. The night concluded with a book signing for his newest book, “A Wrestling Life 2.” To learn more about Gable and his book, find the Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County interview with him at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.