Tracking Ed Ricketts, Ecologist
Sometimes I wonder how the world has survived so long without a good book about Ed Ricketts. Then I realize that I'm getting confused with funny man Don Rickles. Ed Ricketts was, to quote from Eric Enno Tamm's new biography on him, "The pioneering ecologist who inspired John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell." Tamm reads tonight. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651, 7:30
Noir Night
Subversive fiction hits trendy Hawthorne Blvd with readings by ex-squatter Peter Plate (hey, who hasn't squatted at some time in their life?) and Shawn Shiflett, whose gritty novel Hidden Place is set in Puerto Escondido, which is a lot of fun to say out loud. See review this issue. Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 238-1668, 7:30
Lee Stringer
Publishers love when their authors have a biographical hook, and nothing says cha-ching like "graphic designer turned crack head." In Sleepaway School Stringer turns his rehab pencil toward stories of his adolescence. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651, 7:30
Barbara Sjoholm
Cofounder of Seattle's Seal House press, Sjoholm comes to town to share from her new book Pirate Queen, a collection of stories about Grace O'Malley and other real life women pirates. Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway, 284-1726, 7 pm
* The Triple Dare Reading Series
Reading Frenzy's new ongoing event spotlights three self published/small press authors every month. This month it's La Palabra Press' resident poet Pecos B, chapbook author Temple Lutz (of I Began Drinking Because of a Boy), and Penny Dreadful editor Mark Russell. Reading Frenzy, 921 SW Oak, 274-1449, 7 pm, free
Sniffy Linings
Paul Ash, editor of the Portland-based Sniffy Linings Press brings along local writers Marissa Madrigal, Dan Raphael, and Jemiah Jefferson, who have collectively written books called Can of Air, 8 lb Gorilla, and Voice of the Blood. Borders-Downtown, 708 SW 3rd Ave, 221-9814, 7 pm
On the River with Lewis and Clark
I once had a professor who was a Lewis & Clark scholar, and I'll tell you, that's a nutty breed. Each of them are convinced that they are the only ones who "truly get" the expedition and that they are each more die-hard than the other L&C fanboys. Author Verne Huser looks at the nuts and bolts of the intrepid explorers' river journey with detailed attention to their day-to-day lives and boat construction issues. Sounds like a party! Powell's Travel Store, 701 SW 6th Ave, 228-1108, 5:30
