WordFest will feature accounts and stories about Bigfoot on Tuesday, November 14, 6:00 pm, at the Cassava Coffeehouse, 1333 Broadway in Longview.
Popular naturalist and writer Robert Michael Pyle will read from his book, Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide. First published in 1995, the book has been recently re-issued with a new chapter examining evidence that suggests such a creature may exist. Awarded a Guggenheim fellowship to investigate the legends of Sasquatch, Bob trekked into the unprotected wilderness of the Dark Divide near Mount St. Helens where he discovered a giant fossil footprint and more recent tracks. He interviewed Indians who told him of an outcast tribe, the Seeahtiks, who had not fully evolved into humans, and met scientists, hunters, and others who have devoted their lives to the search. The result is a moving and witty narrative investigation of not only the phenomenon of Bigfoot, but also of the human need to believe that something is out there beyond the campfire.
Bob is the author of eighteen books, including Wintergreen, Rambles in a Ravaged Land, Chasing Monarchs, Sky Time in Grays River: Living for Keeps in a Forgotten Place, and a poetry collection Evolution of the Genus Iris. A Yale-trained ecologist and Guggenheim fellow, he is a full-time writer living in Wahkiakum County.
You can watch an interview with Robert Michael Pyle about Bigfoot on BookChat.
Captain H.J. “Pete” Pettersen will read from his novel, Port Orford’s Youngest Fisherman, the story of a young boy who goes to live with his grandfather following the death of his parents and learns the art of fishing. Living in a fisherman’s shack in the little coastal village of Port Orford, Oregon, the boy works through his grief, finding a new home and a new life.
Pete has spent most of his life at sea. Raised in the San Juan Islands, he was commercially fishing with his dad and brothers on the Pacific coast and in Alaskan waters by the time he was eight, and was captaining a fishing boat in Alaska at the age of thirteen. After obtaining his Captain Oceans license, he worked and traveled the world. Recently retired, he and his wife Kat live in Longview.
William Alton will be reading from a novel he is co-writing with John Saxon, titled A Change in the Wind. Set in Central Europe at the beginning of the 19th Century as Napoleon is building his empire, it chronicles a spiritual battle spreading across the quiet villages and bustling cities of the Germanies. Räder Wunderwahn, a young man with a past he cannot remember, is searching for his identity, which is tied to the darkness rising where the old gods are intent on conquering the world and establishing a new Reich.
Bill was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2010. He has written a collection of flash fiction, Girls, two collections of poetry, Heroes of Silence and Heat Washes Through, a memoir titled My Name is Bill and a novel, Flesh and Bone. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon.
There will be an open mic period following the presentations.
The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, at Cassava. The events are free and open to the public.
Cassava offers a dinner menu for those who wish to enjoy a meal with the readings, as well as local wines and brews.