Bud Werner Memorial Library

Bud Werner Memorial Library, Yampatika and the Steamboat Writer's Group present an evening of bear stories and photos with award-winning author Laura Pritchett talking about her new book, Great Colorado Bear Stories.

6  p.m.  Become Bear Aware!  Join a Yampatika  Naturalist and a Colorado Parks and Wildlife representative to learn about the natural history of bears. This family friendly opportunity will feature tracks, skulls, pelts and a life sized bear. Learn how to co-exist with these gentle giants and gain a greater appreciation of their life cycle, habitat requirements and seasonal activities. 

7 p.m.  Free author talk and slideshow with Laura Pritchett

Great Colorado Bear Stories is an incredible look at Colorado’s bears, including the grizzlies that once roamed across the state, and the black bears that still do.

Carefully researched and skillfully written, these stories involve death and near-death, playfulness and humor. Some stories are historical – Roosevelt’s hunting, Pike’s exploring, and the death of Colorado’s last grizzly. Other tales are contemporary – the death of a logger, two campers who nearly lost their lives, the scientists who crawl into bear dens. These stories involve hikers, ranchers, wildlife biologists, historians, Native Americans, and regular folks whose lives have intersected with the great bruins of our state.

Whether you are intrigued by bears or simply like amazing true stories, Great Colorado Bear Stories is a remarkable book about understanding and living with Colorado’s bears. Author Rick Bass calls the book, “a valuable and wide-ranging work of scholarship, love, and respect."

Laura Pritchett is a featured instructor at the 31st annual Day for Writers at the Depot, sponsored by the Steamboat Writer's Group and the Steamboat Springs Arts Council, on July 14.

About the author
Laura Pritchett is the author of the novel Sky Bridge (winner of the WILLA Literary Award and finalist for the Dublin International Award and the Colorado Book Award) and a collection of short stories, Hell's Bottom, Colorado (winner of the PEN USA award and the Milkweed National Fiction Prize). She is also the author of a nonfiction book, Great Colorado Bear Stories. Pritchett is editor/co-editor of three books: Home Land: Ranching and a West that Works, Pulse of the River: Colorado Writers Speak for the Endangered Cache la Poudre, and Going Green: True Tales from Gleaners, Scavengers, and Dumpster Divers.

Pritchett has had over 100 essays and short stories published in numerous magazines, including The Sun, Orion, High Country News, High Desert Journal, Natural Resources Journal, Colorado Review, 5280, and the books Comeback Wolves: Western Writers Welcome the Wolf Home and Social Issues Firsthand: The Environment.

Pritchett received her B.A. and M.A. in English at Colorado State University and her Ph.D. in Contemporary American Literature/Creative Writing at Purdue University. She teaches writing around the country and is a member of the faculty at Denver’s Lighthouse Writers Workshop. She is a board member of the Rocky Mountain Land Library and the Colorado Art Ranch, teaches occasional writing courses, and is a freelance writer. Pritchett has had work nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and has served as the judge for several literary contests, including the 2005 PEN USA Award for Fiction.

She is currently finishing three books: a new novel entitled Blue Moon Mountain, a memoir called The Normal One, and an anthology about sex and nature. She lives in Colorado, near the small cattle ranch where she was raised.

Laura Pritchett's books will be available for sale and author signing courtesy of Off the Beaten Path.