Admission is free; no reservations are required.
Duncan, a leading environmental activist who lives in Montana, is widely recognized for his humorous and beautifully crafted essays and novels. He is a passionate voice for wilderness and wildlife, particularly salmon. His collection of essays, 鈥淩iver Teeth,鈥� inspired an upcoming Oregon film festival and the award-winning literary magazine, River Teeth: A Journal of Narrative Non-fiction.
His books have won numerous honors and his latest, 鈥淢y Story as Told by Water,鈥� won the Pushcart Prize, Western States Book Award, a Montana Arts Council Fellowship and was a 2001 National Book Award finalist.
A contributing editor to Orion magazine, Duncan sits on the advisory boards of several periodicals and watershed protection groups. An avid fly fisher, he is scripting and narrating two documentary films: one on wild Idaho salmon and one on bamboo fly rods. He is also at work on a novel set at the confluence of Asian mysticism and American mountains, titled 鈥淓astern Western.鈥�
Duncan will also speak during a 蜜桃传媒 convocation 10:30 a.m. Oct. 17 in Murchison Gymnasium, which is also open to the public. The title of his convocation speech is 鈥淪mall, Good Things.鈥�
Here is a sampling of what some critics said about Duncan鈥檚 latest work: 鈥淢y Story as Told by Water.鈥�
鈥淒uncan writes boldly and passionately but with fine humor about urban sprawl, industrial pollution, logging, mining and dam building, and the corporados, politicians and government agencies that promote them. 鈥� His reporting is accurate, informed and ruthlessly honest鈥� His drive to expose and vanquish the threats to his home watersheds鈥laces him firmly in the tradition of Thoreau and John Muir, but with a bit of Groucho Marx thrown in for good measure鈥︹�� 鈥� The Seattle Times
鈥淚magine Ludwig von Beethoven鈥檚 鈥淥de to Joy鈥� as an environmental essay鈥︹�� 鈥� Bellingham Herald
鈥淎 moving tribute to running water and the life it supports鈥� Part memoir, part meditation, Duncan describes wild rivers, faith, wonder, fly fishing and environmental politics with eloquence, intensity and humor.鈥� 鈥� Christian Science Monitor
鈥淛eremiah ranted, so too Amos, and neither of those boys had even a speck of Duncan鈥檚 humor.鈥� 鈥� Commonweal
Duncan鈥檚 appearances are sponsored by the 蜜桃传媒 Foundation and Poets & Writers Inc. through a grant it received from the James Irvine Foundation.
For more information, contact the public affairs office at (805) 565-6051 or e-mail pubaffairs@westmont.edu.