Timothy Egan

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

Book Group In The Worst Hard Time, 2006 winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction, Timonthy Egan utilizes first person accounts to take the reader through the rise and fall of America's High Plains, brought on by the worst dust storms in our history. (added from Barnes & Noble)… (more)

Timothy Egan discusses Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Seating is on a space-available basis. Edward Curtis was dashing, charismatic, and famous—and a passionate mountaineer—until he gave it all up in 1900 to capture the Native American nation on film before it disappeared. In Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Timothy Egan tells the untold story behind Curtis’ iconic photographs, his struggles to document more than 80 tribes, and his tremendous perseverance (it took Curtis six years to convince the Hopi to allow him into their Snake Dance ceremony). The undertaking changed Curtis profoundly; he would die penniless in Hollywood—but the charming rogue’s adventure created one of America’s most stunning cultural achievements. About the author Timothy Egan worked for The New York Times for 18 years – as Pacific Northwest correspondent and a national enterprise reporter. In 2001, he was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team that wrote the series “How Race Is Lived in America.” He is the author of several books, including “The Worst Hard Time,” a history of the Dust Bowl, for which he won the National Book Award, and most recently, “The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America.” He writes a weekly column, "Outposts," for the New York Times. (TPLevents)… (more)

Short nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis is the story of how a lone man's epic obsession led to one of America's greatest cultural treasures. Prizewinning writer Timothy Egan tells the riveting, cinematic story behind the most famous photographs in Native American history -- and the driven, brilliant man who made them.

Edward Curtis was charismatic, handsome, a passionate mountaineer, and a famous photographer, the Annie Leibovitz of his time. He moved in rarefied circles, a friend to presidents, vaudeville stars, leading thinkers. And he was thirty-two years old in 1900 when he gave it all up to pursue his Great Idea: to capture on film the continent's original inhabitants before the old ways disappeared.

An Indiana Jones with a camera, Curtis spent the next three decades traveling from the Havasupai at the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the Acoma on a high mesa in New Mexico to the Salish in the rugged Northwest rain forest, documenting the stories and rituals of more than eighty tribes. It took tremendous perseverance -- ten years alone to persuade the Hopi to allow him into their Snake Dance ceremony. And the undertaking changed him profoundly, from detached observer to outraged advocate. Eventually Curtis took more than 40,000 photographs, preserved 10,000 audio recordings, and is credited with making the first narrative documentary film. In the process, the charming rogue with the grade school education created the most definitive archive of the American Indian.

His most powerful backer was Theodore Roosevelt, and his patron was J. P. Morgan. Despite the friends in high places, he was always broke and often disparaged as an upstart in pursuit of an impossible dream. He completed his masterwork in 1930, when he published the last of the twenty volumes. A nation in the grips of the Depression ignored it. But today rare Curtis photogravures bring high prices at auction, and he is hailed as a visionary. In the end he fulfilled his promise: He made the Indians live forever.

Timothy Egan is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and the author of six books, most recently The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and the Washington State Book Award. His previous books include The Worst Hard Time, which won a National Book Award and was named a New York Times Editors' Choice. He is an online op-ed columnist for the New York Times, writing his "Opinionator" feature once a week. He is a third-generation Westerner and lives in Seattle.

Location: Street: 157 Winslow Way E. City: Bainbridge Island, Province: Washington Postal Code: 98110 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

7PM TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23 Tim Egan: Short nights of the Shadow Catcher Pulitzer Prize winner Timothy Egan presents Short nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis.

Egan tells the story behind Edward Curtis, who was thirty-two years old in 1900 when he gave it all up to pursue his Great Idea: to capture on film the continent's original inhabitants before the old ways disappeared. He spent the next three decades documenting the stories and rituals of more than eighty Native American tribes. The undertaking changed him profoundly, from detached observer to outraged advocate. With more than 40,000 photographs, 10,000 audio recordings, and the first narrative documentary, Curtis is credited with making the most definitive and famous archive of the American Indian.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Timothy Egan is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and the author of six books, most recently The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and the Washington State Book Award. His previous books include The Worst Hard Time, which won a National Book Award and was named a New York Times Editors' Choice. He is an online op-ed columnist for the New York Times, writing his "Opinionator" feature once a week. He lives in Seattle. More »

Location: Street: 6428 S McClintock Dr. City: Tempe, Province: Arizona Postal Code: 85283 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Prizewinning writer Timothy Egan tells the riveting, cinematic story behind the most famous photographs in Native American history - and the driven, brilliant man who made them. Edward Curtis was charismatic, handsome, a passionate mountaineer, and a famous photographer, the Annie Leibovitz of his time. He moved in rarefied circles, a friend to presidents, vaudeville stars, leading thinkers. And he was thirty-two years old in 1900 when he gave it all up to pursue his Great Idea: to capture on film the continent's original inhabitants before the old ways disappeared. An Indiana Jones with a camera, Curtis spent the next three decades traveling from the Havasupai at the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the Acoma on a high mesa in New Mexico to the Salish in the rugged Northwest rain forest, documenting the stories and rituals of more than eighty tribes. It took tremendous perseverance - ten years alone to persuade the Hopi to allow him into their Snake Dance ceremony. And the undertaking changed him profoundly, from detached observer to outraged advocate. Eventually Curtis took more than 40,000 photographs, preserved 10,000 audio recordings, and is credited with making the first narrative documentary film. In the process, the charming rogue with the grade school education created the most definitive archive of the American Indian.

Location: Street: 4022 Rio Grande Blvd NW City: Albuquerque, Province: New Mexico Postal Code: 87107-3157 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Timothy Egan

Wednesday, October 17, 7:00 p.m.

Short nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis

Edward Curtis was the Annie Leibovitz of his time. He moved in rarefied circles, a friend to presidents, vaudeville stars, leading thinkers. And he was thirty-two years old in 1900 when he gave it all up to pursue his Great Idea: to capture on film the continent's original inhabitants before the old ways disappeared.

Curtis spent the next three decades traveling, documenting the stories and rituals of more than eighty tribes. Eventually he took more than 40,000 photographs, preserved 10,000 audio recordings, and is credited with making the first narrative documentary film.

His most powerful backer was Theodore Roosevelt, and his patron was J. P. Morgan. He completed his masterwork in 1930, when he published the last of the twenty volumes. Today rare Curtis photogravures bring high prices at auction, and he is hailed as a visionary.

Timothy Egan is a national enterprise reporter for the New York Times. He is the author of five books and the recipient of several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Seattle. This event is co-sponsored by the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford

Location: Street: 1010 El Camino Real City: Menlo Park, Province: California Postal Code: 94025-4349 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

You’re cordially invited to attend our every third Thursday of the month Book Club.

June's book is The Big Burn, by Timothy Egan.

Moderated by longtime bookseller Michelle and events gal Suzanne, our book club is multi-generational, friendly, casually well read, and one of the best groups to talk about a book with we've ever met!

As always, our club books will be discounted 10% every month. Additionally, if your book club buys 3 or more copies of one title, we’ll happily discount any and all other book club’s titles too!

Location: Street: Secret Garden Additional: 2214 NW Market St City: Seattle, Province: Washington Postal Code: 98107-4024 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Timothy Egan, The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America .

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan. Egan chronicles the Great Fire of 1910 that burned 3 million acres of Washington, Idaho and Montana and also recounts the story of the new U.S. Forest Service and its two founders, Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot. (sunnyvalelibrary)… (more)