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Canyon authors to sign books at GCA holiday open house

Wayne Ranney is one of several authors who will be signing books at Grand Canyon Association's second annual Community Open House this Monday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Books & More at Canyon View Information Plaza. The commercial bus lot will be open for parking.

Residents receive a 30 percent discount on cent discount on all merchandise. Gary Ladd, Kate Watters, Lori Makarick, Christa Sadler, Mike Anderson, Stephen Hirst, Tom Myers and Wayne Ranney will be on hand to sign their books.

There will also be a raffle with proceeds to benefit the community holiday food basket program. Prizes include GCA merchandise and a Grand Canyon blanket designed by artist Ed Mell and valued at more than $200.

The event will feature cookies, punch and music by Grand Canyon School students and the Canyon Crooners. For more information on the sale or to volunteer to sing along with the crooners, contact Helen Thompson at 638-7033 or hthompson@grandcanyon.org.

About the authors:

Steve and Lois Hirst ­ "I Am the Grand Canyon: The Story of the Havasupai People" The Hirsts first came to the Havasupai in 1967 to operate their Head Start preschool. Thus began a relationship that has persisted for 40 years. They lived for 11 in Havasu Canyon, and the Havasupai asked them to research and document their efforts to regain their ancestral lands. "I Am the Grand Canyon" is the result. The Hirsts left the Havasupai in 1983, but they continued their connection with Native Americans in Michigan by working with Ojibwe and Potowatomi education programs. They currently live in Flagstaff.

Christa Sadler ­ "There's This River‹Grand Canyon Boatman Stories"; "Life in Stone: Fossils of the Colorado Plateau"

Christa Sadler is a geologist, educator and naturalist who has traveled the globe to research archeology, geology and paleontology. She also runs This Earth, which takes earth science programs to children around the country, and designs earth science labs, programs and field trips for students age K-12.

Her articles and photographs have appeared in Plateau Magazine, Plateau Journal, Sedona Magazine, Sojourns and Earth Magazine.

Tom Myers ­ "Fateful Journey: Injury and Death on Colorado River Trips in Grand Canyon" (co-authored with Chris Becker and Larry Stevens); "Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon" (co-authored with Michael P. Ghiglieri)

Thomas M. Myers worked as a physician at Grand Canyon for nearly a decade, and has hiked the Canyon backcountry extensively and rowed the Colorado River several times. He has seen, responded to, treated and tried to understand the ontogeny of thousands of injuries and of all too many traumatic fatalities occurring in the Canyon. "Fateful Journey: Injury and Death on Colorado River Trips in Grand Canyon" is the first-ever detailed statistical analysis of river-running accidents, dispelling many previously held myths about the risks of running the Colorado.

Myers also holds a degree in history from Northern Arizona University, is married with three children, and lives in Flagstaff.

Gary Ladd ­ "Grand Canyon, Time Below the Rim" (with author Craig Childs); "Canyon Light"; "Along the Rim"; "Lake Powell ‹ A Photographic Essay of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area"; "Landforms‹Heart of the Colorado Plateau"

Gary Ladd is a free-lance large format photographer specializing in the wilderness interior of Grand Canyon, the pristine sandstone landscapes surrounding Lake Powell and the slickrock terrain of Utah and Arizona.

His photographs have appeared in Life Magazine, Air & Space, Omni, Nature Conservancy, Reader's Digest, Newsweek, Geo, Professional Photographer, National Geographic Adventure, The Wall Street Journal, Modern Photography, Plateau Journal, Sierra Press books, National Geographic books and many other periodicals, books, posters, cards and National Park Service displays. His work has appeared in over 60 issues of Arizona Highways.

Gary has lived in Page along the Colorado River for 25 years. He is a Museum of Northern Arizona Ventures trip leader, former Sierra Club wilderness backpack trip leader, Arizona Highways photo workshop instructor, Grand Circle Field School and Grand Canyon Field Institute instructor and Elderhostel geology/photography instructor. He has rowed his wooden dory, Tatahotso, through the Grand Canyon numerous times since 1973 and has completed over 75 backpacking trips into Grand Canyon. His current book project is tentatively titled "The Invisible Canyon," due in 2007 to be published by Grand Canyon Association.

Michael F. Anderson ­ "Living At the Edge: Explorers, Exploiters, and Settlers of the Grand Canyon Region"; "Polishing the Jewel: An Administrative History of Grand Canyon National Park"; "Along the Rim: A Guide to Grand Canyon's South Rim from Hermits Rest to Desert View"

Michael Anderson earned his doctoral degree in history from Northern Arizona University in 1999. He has been a researcher and writer of canyon history since 1990, a teacher and guide for the Grand Canyon Field Institute since 1993 and Grand Canyon National Park's trails archeologist and cultural resource specialist since 2001.

He also served as project director for Grand Canyon's first history symposium in January 2002, and compiled and edited the proceedings for publication by Grand Canyon Association, entitled A Gathering of Grand Canyon Historians.

His work also includes nominations of Grand Canyon's trails to the National Register of Historic Places.

When not exploring Grand Canyon's roads and trails, Mike is often teaching history to park interpreters and other park staff, and NAU and Yavapai College Elderhostel groups. In 2005 the Grand Canyon Historical Society honored him for his contributions to canyon historiography with the society's pioneer award. He was recently elected president of the Historical Society for the year 2006.


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