kill date: 6/27/09
The River Knows Everything: A Reading and Slideshow with Author James Aton
Ken Sanders Rare Books is pleased to announce a reading and slideshow by James M. Aton, author of The River Knows Everything: Desolation Canyon and the Green, on Saturday, June 27th at 7:00 p.m. at our downtown bookstore (268 South 200 East). Aton will read from the new book and present both historical photographs of the area as well as original photography by Dan Miller, whose photos comprise much of the artwork in the book. Copies of The River Knows Everything ($34.95, paperback) will be available for purchase and signing at the event. Mail orders please add $6.50 shipping and handling. Utah orders please add $2.39 Utah sales tax. This event is free and open to the public.
Desolation Canyon is one of the West’s wild treasures. Visitors come to study, explore, run the river, and hike a canyon that is deeper at its deepest than the Grand Canyon, better preserved than most of the Colorado River system, and full of eye-catching geology—castellated ridges, dramatic walls, slickrock formations, and lovely beaches. Rafting the river, one may see wild horses, blue herons, bighorn sheep, and possibly a black bear. Signs of previous people include the newsworthy, well-preserved Fremont Indian ruins along Range Creek and rock art panels of Nine Mile Canyon, both Desolation Canyon tributaries. Historically, Utes also carved rock art, including images of graceful horses and lively locomotives, in the upper canyon. Remote and difficult to access, Desolation has a surprisingly full history. Cattle and sheep herding, moonshine, prospecting, and hideaways brought a surprising number of settlers—ranchers, outlaws, and recluses—to the canyon.
James M. Aton is the author of John Wesley Powell (Boise 1994) and, with Robert S. McPherson, River Flowing from the Sunrise: An Environmental History of the Lower San Juan (Logan 2000). The latter won the Hundley Award from the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association. He was a Visiting Fulbright Scholar of American Studies in Indonesia (1989-90) and the People's Republic of China (1997-98) and has been professor of English at Southern Utah University since 1980.
Dan Miller is a professional photographer who has worked for most of Utah's major newspapers, including The Salt Lake Tribune and The Herald Journal. He currently designs books and sets type for USU Press. His previous books include, with Michael R. Weibel, High in Utah: A Hiking Guide to the Tallest Peaks in Each of Utah's Twenty-nine Counties (Salt Lake City 1999) and, as photographer, with author Marlin Stum, Visions of Antelope Island and Great Salt Lake (Logan 1999). He is married to Diane Bush.
For further information, please contact:
Ken Sanders Rare Books
268 South 200 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 521-3819