About this Event
Third Place Books and the North Cascades Institute present Jon Waterman as part of our Fall 2024 Nature of Writing series! Waterman will be discussing his new book, Into the Thaw: Witnessing Wonder Amid the Arctic Climate Crisis, in which he returns to the Arctic after 40 years to document the changes wreaked by the climate crisis. Amidst the chaos, he reunites with the wonders of this magical -- but fragile -- ecosystem. He will be joined in conversation by Nick O'Connell. This event is free and open to the public.
This event is co-sponsored by the North Cascades Institute, a nonprofit conservation organization working to inspire environmental stewardship through transformative learning experiences in nature. Learn more at ncascades.org.
For important updates, registration is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!
About Into the Thaw. . .
A bestselling author and photographer returns to the Arctic after 40 years to document the changes wreaked by the climate crisis. Amidst the chaos, he reunites with the wonders of this magical -- but fragile -- ecosystem.
An award-winning author and photographer returns to the Arctic to document the effects of climate change.
Forty years ago, the park ranger Jon Waterman took his first journey into the Alaskan Arctic, to the Noatak headwaters. He was astonished by the abundant wildlife, the strange landscape, and its otherworldly light—how the “frequent rain showers glow like lemonade poured out of the sky.” Taken with a new sense of wonder, he began to explore the North on several trips in the 1980s.
After a 30-year absence from the Noatak, he returned with his son in 2021. Amid a now-flooded river missing the once-plentiful caribou, he was shocked and heartbroken by the changes. The following year, in 2022, he took one final journey “into the thaw” to document—for this lushly illustrated and scholarly book—the environmental and cultural changes wrought by the climate crisis.
A widely published author and photographer, Waterman’s narrative alternates between adventure and wilderness memoir and plainly stated natural history of the area. Chased by bears, sometimes alone for weeks on end amid hordes of mosquitoes, he notes the extraordinary changes from 1983 until the present day: brush grown over the tundra in a phenomenon called Greening of the Arctic, tear-drop-shaped landslide thaw slumps—a.k.a. thermokarsts—caused by thawing permafrost, and an increasing loss of sea ice as he travels along the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The author also spends time with the kindhearted, welcoming Inuit or Inupiat most affected by the Arctic crisis, who share how their age-old culture has attempted to cope with “the thaw.” Stricken by the change, Waterman paints an intimate portrait of both the villages and the little-visited landscape, because “it’s high time that we truly understand the Arctic.” He writes, “Lest we forget what it once was.”
Through his quest for wonder—in prose illuminated by humility and humor—Waterman shows how the Arctic can confer grace on those who pass through. Despite the unfolding crisis, as a narrative of hope, at the book’s end he suggests actions we can all take to slow the thaw and preserve what is left of this remarkable, vast frontier.
Jon Waterman has worked as a director of a small press, an editor, a naturalist, a park ranger, a wilderness guide, a photographer, and a filmmaker. Among his many publications, Jon’s work has often appeared in The New York Times, Outside, Men’s Journal, Adventure, Climbing, and Sailing World. His 17 books include In the Shadow of Denali, Kayaking the Vermilion Sea, and Running Dry; he is a frequent grantee of the National Geographic Society. By taking risks and tackling difficult issues, his work transcends traditional outdoor yarns and has garnered numerous awards, including a Literary Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts, three Best Adventure Book Awards from the Banff Book Festival, a National Park Service Special Achievement Award, and the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. He lives in Carbondale, Colorado.
Nicholas O’Connell, M.F.A, Ph.D., is the author of the forthcoming, Crush: My Year’s Apprenticeship as a Winemaker (University of Nebraska Press, 2025), The Storms of Denali (University of Alaska Press, 2012), On Sacred Ground: The Spirit of Place in Pacific Northwest Literature (University of Washington Press, 2003), At the Field’s End: Interviews with 22 Pacific Northwest Writers (University of Washington Press, 1998), Contemporary Ecofiction (Charles Scribner’s, 1996) and Beyond Risk: Conversations with Climbers (Mountaineers, 1993). He has contributed to Newsweek, Gourmet, Saveur, Outside, GO, National Geographic Adventure, Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sierra, The Wine Spectator, Commonweal, Image and many other places. He is the publisher/editor of The Writer’s Workshop Review and the founder of the online and Seattle-based writing program, www.thewritersworkshop.net.
About Third Place Books
Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way Northeast, Lake Forest Park, United States
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