Everybody Reads Program

Mon, Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. - Hank Cramer

Tues, Nov. 9 at 12 noon - Bette Husted

Wed, Nov. 10 at 12 noon - Molly Gloss 

 
Join us for a series of events based around the Everybody Reads program. First is an unforgettable performance on Monday, November 8th at 6:30 p.m. by Hank Cramer, one of the best-loved folksingers in the American West. He's known for his booming bass voice, smooth picking on a vintage flat-top guitar, and a wry sense of humor. Hank's repertoire is a mix of original, traditional, and contemporary folk songs. They tell the stories of cowboys, sailors, soldiers, miners, adventurers, and just plain drifters. That fits with Hank's life story: he has been an underground miner, a professional soldier, shanty-man on a square-rigged sailing ship, wrangler for a high-country outfitter, and a world traveler. Those experiences make Hank's music ring with a special authenticity. Hank will be performing traditional cowboy songs from the Old West that celebrate this year's Everybody Reads selection, Molly Gloss's Hearts of Horses.

Next is an afternoon with poet Bette Husted on Tuesday, November 9th at 12 p.m. Bette will be reading from her first full poetry collection, At This Distance. The poems featured in this book "explore the rural landscape, its peoples and why and how they live there" (Alex Kuo).  Betty Lynch Husted lives and writes in Pendleton, Oregon. Her works include a chapbook, After Fire, and a collection of memoir essays, Above the Clearwater: Living on Stolen Land, which was a finalist for the 2005 Oregon Book Award and the 2005 WILLA Award in creative nonfiction. We are so pleased to have Bette share her poetry, a tribute to the wilds of Oregon, on the eve of Everybody Reads author, whose novel Hearts of Horses takes place on that same land.

 The concluding program is a "Heart to Heart" talk with author Molly Gloss about her newest novel, Hearts of Horses on Wednesday, November 10th at 12 p.m. The novel takes place during the winter of 1917 among the farms and ranches of Eastern Oregon, and has already garnered widespread attention and praise in the national press. The author's other award-winning novels include The Jump-Off Creek, The Dazzle of Day, and Wild Life.

Molly's appearance at Neill Public Library is part of the 2010 Everybody Reads program. This regional program, now celebrating its 10th year, features libraries, bookstores and universities across the Palouse and the Lewiston/Clarkston Valley and encourages all citizens to read the same book. Please call 334-3595 for more information.