Encore for More Speaker Series in Fountain Hills will host author and historian Jim Turner at the Community Center where he will discuss “Arizona Colonists, Pioneers and Immigrants: A Multicultural History,” on Wednesday, Feb. 19, from 1 to 2:15 p.m.

Arizona’s history is much more than Hollywood’s Wild West stereotypes of cowboys, lawmen and outlaws.

In addition to miners, merchants and ranchers, the area attracted faith-based farmers, health seekers and women entrepreneurs of many creeds and cultures, including a Greco-Syrian camel driver, according to a press release.

This presentation describes Arizona history’s notables and notorious characters from common folk to public heroes.

Arizona Historical Society’s Historian Jim Turner has worked with more than 70 local history museums.

He co-authored the fourth-grade textbook, “The Arizona Story” and his pictorial history, “Arizona: Celebration of the Grand Canyon State,” was a 2012 Southwest Books of the Year selection.

Turner moved to Tucson in 1951, earned an MA in U.S. history in 1999 and has been teaching Arizona history for 47 years.

Turner’s books include “The Mighty Colorado from the Glaciers to the Gulf,” “Four Corners USA: Wonders of the American Southwest” and “Arizona: A History of the Grand Canyon State.”

This presentation is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is required to attend this event by visiting fountainhillsaz.gov. (Course #2973).