University of Montana–Western professor of English O. Alan Weltzien will be touring the Pacific Northwest from October 22 to November 5 with his new book, Exceptional Mountains: A Cultural History of the Pacific Northwest Volcanoes (Nebraska, 2016).

Probing the relationship between Pacific Northwest volcanoes, regional identity, and outdoor recreation, Weltzien demonstrates how mountaineering is but one conspicuous example of the outdoor recreation industry’s unrestricted and problematic growth. Described as “part environmental humanities treatise and part memoir” Weltzien’s style is scientific and approachable, informative and reflective of places and habits that are already familiar.

“To live under the volcano with Weltzien is to hike, sometimes anxiously, through fields of sociology, tourism, urban planning, and ecology—then to pause to contemplate lava domes, landscape painting, and indoor climbing walls,” said Laurie Ricou, author of The Arbutus/Madrone Files: Reading the Pacific Northwest. “A book to engage both climbers and watchers.”

Raised in Bellevue, Washington, Weltzien is now a professor of English at UMW. He has published many books, including a memoir and three books of poetry, and is the editor of The Norman Maclean Reader.

Book Tour Dates

• 10/22: Auntie’s Bookstore in Spokane, WA, at 7:00 p.m. with Dr. Paul Lindholdt
• 10/23: BookPeople of Moscow in Moscow, ID, at 6:00 p.m.
• 10/25: University Bookstore in Bellevue, WA, at 6:00 p.m.
• 10/27: King’s Books in Tacoma, WA, at 7:00 p.m.
• 11/2: Third Place Books in Ravenna, WA, at 7:00 p.m.
• 11/4: Village Books in Bellingham, WA, at 7:00 p.m.
• 11/5: Last Word Books in Olympia, WA, at 7:00 p.m.