Author Talk with Tim McNulty

Talk held in the Carnegie reading room at the Port Townsend Library. 

On November 2, 7:00pm, join Port Townsend Library and Braided River in celebrating the launch of a new book—Salmon, Cedar, Rock & Rain: Washington’s Olympic Peninsula—published by Braided River. Join a vibrant collection of storytellers with deeply held connections to the Olympic peninsula who will share images and personal storytelling about the past, present, and future of the incredible Olympic Peninsula. Event will feature writer Tim McNulty, lead author of Salmon, Cedar, Rock & Rain, and special guests include Loni Greninger, Wendy Sampson, Maria Parker Pascua and David Guterson.

In the Pacific Northwest, many of us delight in Olympic National Park, a unique and magical UNESCO natural world heritage site, located right in our own backyard. Yet the famed park is just the center of a much larger ecosystem, a wild circle of rivers that encompasses ancient old-growth forests, pristine coastal expanses, and jagged alpine peaks, all possessed of a rich biodiversity. For tens of thousands of years, humans have thrived and strived alongside this natural world.

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK CONTRIBUTORS

Tim McNulty is a poet, essayist, and natural history writer. He is the author of three poetry collections and eleven books on natural history, including Olympic National Park: A Natural History. Tim has received the Washington State Book Award and the National Outdoor Book Award, among other honors. He's lived most of his life in the foothills of Washington’s Olympic Mountains and serves on the board of Olympic Park Advocates, a conservation organization that focuses on the Olympic ecosystem. His website is timmcnultypoet.com.

David Guterson is the author of twelve books, including the novel Snow Falling on Cedars and the book-length poem Turn Around Time. As an inveterate walker and a Northwest native, he has hiked and climbed widely in the Olympic Mountains. Two of his novels— The Other and Our Lady of the Forest—are set on the Olympic Peninsula.

Wendy Sampson is a member of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT); she lives on the reservation with her family. She has been a Klallam language teacher for twenty years. Her career began as a high school student hired to work with tribal elders as a teacher apprentice. After attending college she returned home and earned her Klallam language teacher certification in 2003 and eventually became the program manager. Wendy has provided cultural outreach in the schools, taught after-school programs and community adult classes, and worked under various grant projects with the goals of creating tribal history and language lessons and developing tools for language learning. She managed the LEKT culture and language program for ten years, overseeing the growth of the department and expansion of services until 2021. She is now a teacher for the Port Angeles School District offering courses in the Klallam language as well as history classes from a tribal perspective. Wendy remains dedicated to sharing her knowledge in an effort to continue revitalizing the Klallam language and culture in her community.

Lynda V. Mapes is an award-winning journalist, author, and close observer of the natural world. She is the author of six books, including Orca: Shared Waters, Shared Home; Witness Tree: Seasons of Change in a Century Old Oak; and Elwha: A River Reborn. Lynda lives in Seattle where she covers nature, the environment, and tribes as a staff reporter for The Seattle Times.

ABOUT BRAIDED RIVER

Braided River inspires people to protect wild places through images and stories that change perspectives. Western North America's public lands are under threat. Using the power of beautiful images, we publish photography books and create visually-driven multimedia advocacy campaigns to draw attention to these critical ecosystems. A nonprofit based in Seattle on Coast Salish land, we work in concert with conservation photographers, writers, grassroots organizations and Indigenous communities to build greater public awareness, and inspire action. Learn more at www.Braidedriver.org. 

This event is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Port Townsend Library. Learn more about them at https://www.friendsofptlibrary.org