St. Louis has some wonderful parks, built at different times for different reasons. One of the more unique is Tower Grove Park. It wasn’t constructed by the city like so many of our parks—it was gifted to the city. It has always had a board to oversee the park—it’s not just one of many under the Park Dept. A recent hardcover book takes a deep dive into the park.

Author Amanda Doyle, a friend for over two decades, has lived near the park as long as I’ve known her. This coffee table book is well illustrated and informative. The “grateful shade” part of the subtitle is very true, many parks helped provide relief from the hear in the days prior to air conditioning.