JH Weekly interviews Robert Pinsky in lead-up to May 14 Teton County Library event

Robert Pinsky photo by Scott Davidson

Great interview with former U.S. Poet Laureate and "civic poet" Robert Pinsky in the 4/20 JH Weekly. On May 14, the Teton County Library Foundation will present a "Page to the Podium" reading and lecture with Pinsky. Tickets are free and available today at the library. Pinsky now is a professor at Boston University and the poetry editor for the online magazine Slate. He also is founder of the Favorite Poem Project. To read the entire interview, go to Planet News Article -- American music, American voices

In Memoriam: Catherine E. Mealey of Laramie

Catherine E. Mealey was a person who cared deeply about her community of Laramie and the community of writers and books. Her Second Story Books hosted many literary readings, often accompanied by goodies from her kitchen.

From her obituary:

Her love of find food and books led her to many places. She was influential in the redevelopment of the 100 block of Ivinson Avenue in the early 1970s and some of her many inspirations were the Tuesday Tearoom, The Scoop, Gallery 121, The Deli on the Tracks, The Rose Door, the First Story Café, The First Street Gallery and Cooking School, to name a few. Planning for retirement, she opened the Second Story Bookstore in 1988

Catherine E. Mealey obit in the Laramie Boomerang

Wyoming State Museum looking for readers with "True Grit"

Registration is underway for the Wyoming State Museum book discussion series, “Exploring the Western Novel.”

Beginning on February 16, members of the discussion group will meet to discuss a series of four western novels. The series is free and open to the public; however the group size is limited to 20 participants.

The four western novels are “Lonesome Land” by B.M. Bower, “The Big Sky” by A.B. Guthrie, “True Grit” by Charles Portis and “Leaving Cheyenne” by Larry McMurtry. Participants are responsible for providing their own books; however, each of the books can be purchased in the State Museum Store at a reduced cost.

The discussion group will meet on Feb. 16, March 23, April 20 and May 18 at 6:30 p.m., at the Wyoming State Museum.

FMI: Sarah Ligocki at 777-7021.

Author Paul Shankman discusses "The Trashing of Margaret Mead"

Author Paul Shankman will discuss his new book, "The Trashing of Margaret Mead: Anatomy of a Controversy," Friday, Oct. 8, at 4 p.m. in Room 150 of the University of Wyoming Anthropology Building in Laramie.

A University of Colorado professor of anthropology, Shankman has spent years studying the work of Derek Freeman, who has been harshly critical of Mead's work, including her most famous book, 1928's "Coming of Age in Samoa." Mead portrayed an idyllic, non-Western society, free of much sexual restraint and lacking much violence, guilt and anger.

Freeman, an anthropologist, said Mead was wrong and launched a heated public controversy. Shankman first did field work in Samoa in 1966 and has returned periodically since then. He has uncovered new evidence that Freeman's fierce criticism of Mead contained fundamental flaws.

Copies of the book can be purchased at the UW Bookstore, or, following the lecture, in Room 150 of the Anthropology Building.

Obmascik talks about "The Big Year" at Laramie Co. Library Foundation's "Booklovers' Bash"

The sixth annual Booklovers’ Bash sponsored by the Laramie County Library Foundation will be held at Little America Hotel and Resort in Cheyenne on Friday, Oct. 29. No host cocktails will be available from 6 p.m. Dinner served at 7 p.m.

Mark Obmascik, Pulitzer Prize-winning Denver journalist-turned-author and humorist, is the featured speaker. His first book, “The Big Year,” is an assiduously researched and warmly amusing depiction of a year of competitive birding. A movie of “ The Big Year” is currently being filmed with Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson (among others) and will be released in 2011.

Obmascik’s most recent book, “Halfway to Heaven,” is an entertaining account of his rigorous obsession to climb all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks in one year despite being “fat, forty-four... mortgage ... half gone, but so was my hair...”

Individual tickets are $50. Preferential seating and public acknowledgement is available for those who sponsor a $1000 table for eight. Call the Foundation office, 307 773-7221, for reservations or visit foundation@LCLSonline.org.  VISA and MasterCard are accepted. Make checks payable to LCL Foundation and mail to the LCLFoundation, 2200 Pioneer Avenue, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001. The deadline for reservations is Friday, Oct. 22.

Fremont County Reads picks "Lifting the Sky" by Mackie D'Arge

"American Wildlife Art" author David Wagner to talk about his book Sept. 14 at the BBHC

From a BBHC press release:

Many may be familiar with the skillfully precise wildlife artwork of James John Audubon, but the story of American wildlife art is a much broader one, influenced by-and influencing in turn-cultural events and aesthetic and ideological trends. In his book American Wildlife Art, author, scholar, and curator David J. Wagner tells the in-depth story through accounts of the artists, events, and developments at the heart of this uniquely American art form.

Wagner shares his insights in a presentation and book signing at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center Tuesday, September 14. The lecture, included in regular admission to the Center and free to members, takes place at noon in the Coe Auditorium. The Center's Museum Store hosts a book signing following the presentation.

"American Wildlife Art," published by Marquand Books, contains more than three hundred photographs, and examines American wildlife art over the past four centuries. Wagner explains how the aesthetic idioms and imagery of American wildlife art have evolved, how its ecological ideologies have changed with changing circumstances and ideas about animals and their habitats, and how artists and entrepreneurs developed and influenced the market for wildlife art.

Wagner opens with artists who first documented the flora and fauna of the New World, presenting Europeans with a view of the economic potential and the natural wonders of the then sparsely populated continent. He moves through the history of Audubon and Alexander Wilson, as well as Arthur Tait's collaboration with Currier & Ives that helped bring wildlife art to the masses. Wagner relates the art to conservation and wilderness preservation efforts, and concludes with portraits of contemporary wildlife artists.

Wagner is curator and tour director for the Society of Animal Artists and presents programs on wildlife art including painting, sculpture, and conservation at museums, nature centers, and parks. His tours have taken him as far as Banff National Park in Canada and the Beijing Natural History Museum in China. He has curated and toured exhibits such as Art and the Animal, The Horse in Fine Art, and Arts for the Park. In addition to the book American Wildlife Art, Wagner co-authored Natural Habitat, Contemporary Wildlife Artists of North America. He has also served as curator for the Society of Animal Artists Culpture Courtyard at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.

Wagner's presentation and book signing are sponsored by the Historical Center's Draper Museum of Natural History. For more information and this and other events and programs at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, explore http://www.bbhc.org/.

Committed to connecting people with the Spirit of the American West, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center weaves the varied threads of the western experience-history and myth, art and Native culture, firearms technology and the nature of Yellowstone-into the rich panorama that is the American West. The Center, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is operating its summer schedule, open daily 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., through September 15, when hours change to 8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. For general information, visit the new http://www.bbhc.org/ or call 307.587.4771.

Photo credit: Author David J. Wagner discusses his book, American Wildlife Art at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center September 14. Photo courtesy Marquand Books.

Sudanese novelist Valentino Achak Deng at Teton County Library Sept. 16

From the Teton County Public Library in Jackson:

An evening with Sudanese author and refugee Valentino Achak Deng on Thursday, Sept. 16, 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Valentino Achak Deng is a Sudanese refugee whose amazing life story is told in the best-selling novel, "What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng," by acclaimed author Dave Eggers. Tickets to this FREE talk are available beginning Aug. 16 at all local bookstores, including Valley Bookstore, Jackson Hole Book Traders and Main Event. Presented by InterConnections 21, Wyoming Humanities Council, Tatiana Maxwell & Refugees International, Teton County Library Foundation and Valentino Achak Deng Foundation. Cost: Free. Location: High School Auditorium.

Contact: InterConnections 21, 307-699-2787 or jenna@ic21.org.

WCH announces two new "Reading Wyoming" book discussion series

This comes from the latest edition of the Wyoming Humanities Council e-letter:

The Wyoming Humanities Council is pleased to announce two new Reading Wyoming book discussion series.

The first series, "Figureheads," consists of novels dealing with politics. Books include All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren; The Gay Place, by Billy Lee Brammer; Roscoe, by William Kennedy; and Primary Colors, by Anonymous.

The second series, "Icons," includes biographies and non-fiction accounts of iconic Americans. Books include Cash, by Johnny Cash; Jane Fonda's War, by Mary Hershberger; Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, by Thomas Houser; Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1: 1884-1933, by Blanche Wiesen Cook; and A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway.

Reading Wyoming, the Wyoming Humanities Council's book discussion program, is available to any non-profit organization or public agency in Wyoming. The program brings together community members and a humanities discussion leader to read and talk about good books. The sponsoring organization selects the Reading Wyoming series and chooses four titles to read. Discussion meetings take place during either the fall or spring with a group of 8 to 20 participants.The Wyoming Humanities Council provides publicity, multiple copies of the books and expenses for the discussion leader.

Contact Jenny Ingram, (307) 721-9247, for assistance in choosing series and discussion leaders.


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Support Wyoming's libraries (and librarians)

For links to Wyoming's libraries, go to www.wyominglibraries.org

Apply now for WESTAF TourWest grants

WESTAF's TourWest grant program is now open and accepting applications at http://westaf.cgweb.org/. The application deadline is April 1, 2010.

TourWest is a competitive grant program that provides subsidies to arts and community organizations for the presentation of out-of-state touring performers and literary artists. Funds are available to organizations that sponsor performances within the 13-state WESTAF region.

Projects must take place between September 01, 2010 and August 31, 2011. All projects must have one public performance and one outreach activity.

FMI: Seyan Lucero, Senior Project Manager, WESTAF, 303.629.1166

Kemmerer book group reads about "the stuff that dreams are made of"

From the Lincoln County Public Library in Kemmerer:

Register for "Rural America" book discussion

Registration is underway for the Wyoming State Museum-hosted reading and discussion series, “Rural in America.”

A part of the Wyoming Humanities Council’s Reading Wyoming program, “Rural in America” is a discussion group scheduled to meet January 20, February 17, March 17 and April 21 at 6:30 p.m., at the Wyoming State Museum.

The program is free and open to the public. However, participants are asked to register as the group size is limited to 20. Rose Wagner will lead the discussions.

To register and borrow books, contact Sarah Ligocki at 777-7021. Participants are encouraged to register soon as the first book must be read by January 20.

Participants will read and discuss “The Memory of Old Jack, by Wendell Berry; “Winter Wheat,” by Mildred Walker; “The Egg and I,” by Betty McDonald; and “A Painted House,” by John Grisham. All of these books offer both romantic and realistic views of rural life.

The program is offered by the Wyoming Humanities Council. Reading Wyoming provides reading and discussion series’ to nonprofit organizations around the state and is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

FMI: 307-721-9243 or www.uwyo.edu/humanities.

"It's a character-driven mystery, literary in nature," explains Craig Johnson

News from Craig Johnson's Post-It e-letter:

All right, there are a few awards I figured I’d never get, and I got both of them this year for Another Man’s Moccasins—the Western Writer’s of America Spur Award and the other is the Mountains & Plains Independent Bookseller’s Association Novel of the Year.

The MPIBA fall meet back in 2004 was the first event I ever attended, I mean the first, and I learned a lot—namely, how to behave like an author or at least pretend.
Viking/Penguin had been kind enough to send a couple of cases of The Cold Dish, the first in my Sheriff Walt Longmire series, to the event. Basically, I was supposed to hand out advance reader copies of a book that wasn’t going to be available till January and wondered what that was all about… Like I said, I had a lot to learn.

Booksellers were kind, taking a novel from some cowboy who looked more like he should have his hind end on a horse rather than espousing on literature. They asked me questions for which I was sorely unprepared, outrageous questions like, "What’s the book about?" I’d stand there for a few long seconds thinking about a novel I’d been formulating for the last decade and with that sum of collective knowledge, say, "It’s about a sheriff who…"

Suddenly a hand would rest on my shoulder and the patient voice of Eric Boss, ace sales-rep for Penguin USA would intone, "It’s a character-driven mystery, literary in nature…" He would go on from there. By the time the day was over, booksellers would ask what the novel was about, and I would dutifully and proudly proclaim, "It’s a character-driven mystery, literary in nature…"

I learned a lot at my first MPIBA conference, but the most important thing I learned was that I liked talking to readers and book store owners about books, especially my books. It was a revelation, and one I’ve continued to enjoy. Bookstore owners would take the novels, and I’d sign them and ask them where their store was. They’d demure and assure me that I wouldn’t know the location of places like Wheatland, Wyoming. Whereupon I would assure them that not only did I, but that the Brown Derby Café (now closed) is a great place for a burger.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have had numerous successes with my books and am fortunate enough to be in a geographic area that made it all possible, all those book sellers that said to their customers about an unknown author’s series, "It’s a character-driven mystery, literary in nature…"

Craig will be signing copies of his new book in Cheyenne this month. Here are the details:
Barnes & Noble reception in Cheyenne on Friday, September 18, 6 p.m.
The Wyoming Festival of the Book, Cheyenne, Saturday, September 19 -- in conversation with my good friend Margaret Coel from 10:30 a.m.-noon. Location: Lion's Park. This event is free and open to the public.