Perry Hibner is tapping back into his newspaper roots in his next book, reporting on the impact of a TV series that was itself based on a novel.
A piece that appeared in the March 21, 2026 issue of the Portage Daily Register detailed the book. According to the story:
Hibner, a Portage native, former Wisconsin State Journal sports editor and current interim education communications specialist, is close to publishing “Centennial Revisited: An Oral History of the Epic TV Miniseries.”
The book is about “Centennial,” a 1978 one-season Western television series based on “Centennial,” a 1974 novel by James Michener. He is the interim communications director for the Sun Prairie Area School District and formerly held the same permanent role for the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District.
The 2026 book features material from interviews with more than 75 people involved with the 12-episode series, including cast, crew and fans. Hibner said the first episode was watched by more than 30 million households.
“That was the era of miniseries on network television,” Hibner said about the late 1970s. “It seemed like one or two networks, every year or every other year, would do these big, big miniseries ranging from 10 to 12 hours all the way to ‘Centennial’s’ 26. People would just sit down and watch them.”
“Centennial” had a smaller following than other miniseries at the time, including “Roots” , “Shogun” and “The Thorn Birds” , Hibner said. However, it averaged about 15 million viewers per episode.
Hibner said a former “Centennial” producer told him that nobody has highlighted the 1978 series the way that he is in “Centennial Revisited: An Oral History of the Epic TV Miniseries.”
Hibner interviewed the cast and crew for 10 months, from January to October last year. The final edits on the book were finished earlier this month, and he anticipates that the book will be published soon. More information on Hibner and his upcoming work is on perryhibner.com.
The author said he plans to hold book signings in Colorado, Kentucky, Texas and Ohio, where filming took place, as well as in his home state of Wisconsin. Hibner wants to host a signing at Portage Public Library, but has not been able to establish a date.
