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Pacific Northwest

Fiction, Writers on Writing

AUG 26: Greg Iles’ Cemetery Road & Glen Hamilton’s Mercy River

August 20, 2019

Despite a car accident that left him in a coma for 8 days, #1 New York Times Bestseller Greg Iles, much like bandmate Stephen King, rejoined the legendary and notorious lit-rock band The Rock Bottom Remainders. Described as the William Faulkner of the Breaking Bad generation, the incident left Greg no stranger to adversity.  Today we’ll discuss how his body of work has helped put his homestate of Mississippi on the map.

Born in Germany in 1960, where his father ran the US Embassy Medical Clinic during the height of the Cold War, Greg spent his youth in Natchez, Mississippi, graduating from the University of Mississippi in 1983.  His novels have been made into films, translated into more than twenty languages, and published in more than thirty-five countries worldwide.  His latest is Cemetery Road.

Later, while Glen Hamilton’s novels always begin and end in rain-soaked Seattle, Mercy River never leaves the Pacific Northwest as the central plot sees our hero race on a mysterious journey to the arid high desert of central Oregon.  A Seattle native and award-winning author, Glen returns to Conversations Live to discuss the fourth installment in his popular Van Shaw series.

Glen is the current President of the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America.  He is a winner of the Anthony, Macavity, and Strand Magazine Critics Awards.  A resident of California, he frequently returns to Seattle to soak up the rain.

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Fiction, Writers on Writing

APR 01: Greg Iles’ Cemetery Road & Glen Hamilton’s Mercy River

March 22, 2019

Described as the William Faulkner of the Breaking Bad generation, #1 New York Times Bestseller Greg Iles is no stranger to adversity in a career spanning nearly three decades as an author.  Following a car accident that left him in a coma for 8 days, Greg, much like bandmate Stephen King, rejoined the legendary and notorious lit-rock band The Rock Bottom Remainders.  Today we’ll discuss how his body of work has helped put his homestate of Mississippi on the map.

Born in Germany in 1960, where his father ran the US Embassy Medical Clinic during the height of the Cold War, Greg spent his youth in Natchez, Mississippi, graduating from the University of Mississippi in 1983.  His novels have been made into films, translated into more than twenty languages, and published in more than thirty-five countries worldwide.  His latest is Cemetery Road.

Later, while Glen Hamilton’s novels always begin and end in rain-soaked Seattle, Mercy River stays in the Pacific Northwest as the central plot sees our hero race on a mysterious quest to the arid high desert of central Oregon.  A Seattle native and award-winning author, Glen returns to Conversations Live to discuss the fourth installment in his popular Van Shaw series.

Glen is the current President of the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America.  He is a winner of the Anthony, Macavity, and Strand Magazine Critics Awards.  A resident of California, he frequently returns to Seattle to soak up the rain.

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Conservation

JAN 01: Woodland Zoo, Its Animals & People

January 1, 2018

It’s a zoo at Conversations Live with northwest naturalist, John Bierlein.  Today we’ll learn the story behind a Seattle icon, and share how the people and animals of Woodland Park Zoo shaped its history. We’ll also discover how zoos can help people and animals connect, and hear about some of the 35 conservation projects that Woodland is currently managing.

John Bierlein began his career at Discovery Park more than 40 years ago, and was involved with the design of Woodland Park Zoo for 20 years. Bierlein wrote Woodland: The Story of the Animals and People of Woodland Park Zoo as a continuation of the work done by longtime zoo colleague, Dana Payne.

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Memoir, Travel & Adventure

Sep 25: One of These Things First & Razor Clams, Buried Treasure of the PNW

September 8, 2017

From his grandparent’s bra and girdle store, to a stint in one of the most fashionable psychiatric hospitals after a suicide attempt, Steven Gaines takes us on the tragically joyous ride of a 15-year-old Jewish boy in 1960’s Brooklyn.

One of These Things First includes conversion therapy and Broadway dreams, and an array of eccentric characters he met along the way. Steven is a noted journalist, bestselling novelist and biographer, whose work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, the New York Observer, and New York magazine, where he was a contributing editor for 12 years.

Also today, what has the power to draw thousands of people of all ages to the often blustery shores of Washington’s coastal beaches every year?

Seattle Times contributor and author David Berger shares the secrets of our regional razor clam phenomenon in Razor Clams:  Buried Treasure of the Pacific Northwest.  David Berger has worked as a visual arts critic for The Seattle Times, and started razor clamming when he moved to Washington.  You can see him at Third Place Books on October 5, at 7 PM.

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Conservation

Jun 19: Woodland Zoo, Its Animals & People

June 4, 2017

It’s a zoo at Conversations LIVE  with northwest naturalist, John Bierlein.  Today we’ll learn the story behind a Seattle icon, and share how the people and animals of Woodland Park Zoo shaped its history. We’ll also discover how zoos can help people and animals connect, and hear about some of the 35 conservation projects that Woodland is currently managing.

John Bierlein began his career at Discovery Park more than 40 years ago, and was involved with the design of Woodland Park Zoo for 20 years. Bierlein wrote Woodland: The Story of the Animals and People of Woodland Park Zoo as a continuation of the work done by longtime zoo colleague, Dana Payne.

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Conservation, Environment, Lifestyle

Nov 28: 1] The Deepest Roots 2] Adopt A Book

November 28, 2016

In The Deepest Roots: Finding Food and Community on a Pacific Northwest Island, Kathleen Alcalá walks, wades, picks, pokes, digs, cooks, and cans, getting to know her neighbors on a much deeper level. She learns to better understand how we once fed ourselves, acknowledging that there may be a future in which we could need to do so again. Combining memoir, historical records, and a blueprint for sustainability, Kathleen shows us how an island population can mature into responsible food stewards.

Also today, best-selling author and returning guest Katherine Neville joins us to talk about Smithsonian Libraries Adopt-A-Book Program.

Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair airs Mondays at noon Pacific or Fridays at 6AM on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

As friends began “going back to the land” at the same time that a health issue emerged, Kathleen Alcalá set out to re-examine her relationship with food at the most local level. Remembering her parents, Mexican immigrants who grew up during the Depression, and the memory of planting, growing, and harvesting fresh food with them as a child, she decided to explore the history of the Pacific Northwest island she calls home. The result was The Deepest Roots: Finding Food and Community on a Pacific Northwest Island, written to remind the reader that innovation, adaptation, diversity, and common sense will help us make wise decisions about our future. Kathleen is the author of a collection of essays, The Desert Remembers My Name: On Family and Writing; three novels, including Treasures in Heaven; and a collection of short stories. She lives on Bainbridge Island.

Katherine Neville is a best-selling author and public speaker who had the honor of being the first author chosen to become a member the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Libraries in Washington, DC. As a great devotee of reading and research herself, Neville has co-created several awards and grants presented by the Smithsonian Libraries.

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