Livestream Reading: Travis Williams and Marina Richie

Annie Bloom’s welcomes Oregon authors Travis Williams and Marina Richie for a livestream presentation of their new books from OSU Press.

Please register in advance for this Zoom event: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUkce6vrzIvGdZxcalzZtaiZDtzZlM3d0bQ

About Willamette River Greenways:

Travis Williams, executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper, has spent countless hours paddling the Willamette, becoming familiar with its flora, fauna, and human neighbors. In Willamette River Greenways, he combines personal narrative about his experiences on the river with nuanced consideration of the controversies and challenges of the Greenway Program. Williams sheds light on current land stewardship practices, revealing the institutional and leadership failures that endanger the river’s water quality and habitat, and looks to the program’s future. He also takes readers with him onto the water, sharing what it’s like to travel the river by canoe, paying homage to the river’s natural beauty and the host of wildlife species that call it home. Part policy analysis, part advocacy, and all love letter to one of Oregon’s great rivers, Willamette River Greenways offers valuable perspective to policymakers, land use managers, and recreational river users alike.

Travis Williams is the executive director of the environmental nonprofit Willamette Riverkeeper. He holds an MS in environmental science from Johns Hopkins University. In 2019, the Spirit Mountain Community Fund recognized his work with the Helping Hand Award, and in 2004 he was a recipient of the annual Skidmore Prize for his river protection advocacy.

About Halcyon Journey:

More than one hundred species of kingfishers brighten every continent but Antarctica. Not all are fishing birds. They range in size from the African dwarf kingfisher to the laughing kookaburra of Australia. This first book to feature North America’s belted kingfisher is a lyrical story of observation, revelation, and curiosity in the presence of flowing waters. The kingfisher—also known as the halcyon bird—is linked to the mythic origin of halcyon days, a state of happiness that Marina Richie hopes to find outside her back door in Missoula, Montana. Epiphanies and a citizen science discovery punctuate days tracking a bird that outwits at every turn. The female is more colorful than the male (unusual and puzzling) and the birds’ earthen nest holes are difficult to locate. While the heart of the drama takes place on Rattlesnake Creek in Missoula, the author’s adventures in search of kingfisher kin on the lower Rio Grande, in South Africa, and in London illuminate her relationships with the birds of Montana. In the quiet of winter, she explores tribal stories of the kingfisher as messenger and helper, pivotal qualities for her quest. For all who love birds or simply seek solace in nature, Halcyon Journey is an inviting introduction to the mythic and mysterious belted kingfisher.

Marina Richie is a nature writer based in Bend, Oregon. She has worked as a journalist and managed communications for a number of wildlife-oriented public and private organizations. She is the author of the children’s books Bird Feats of Montana and Bug Feats of Montana. Her articles and essays have appeared in Birdwatching Magazine, A.T. Journeys, Post Road Magazine, and many other publications. Learn more at marinarichie.com.