Gary Every, Sedona author and the leader of The Well Red Coyote Writing Salon, will debut his new book, SHADOW OF THE OHSHAD and present a talk on the cultural and natural diversity of Arizona, on Friday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m., at The Well Red Coyote bookstore.
Every will explore the wide variety of cultures who have inhabited the southwest, Apache, Mormon, Mexican, Texan, prospector, soldier, stagecoach bandit, Hopi, Navajo, conquistador, preacher, and wanderers. There will be stories about bears, horses, and jaguars.
Being so close to Halloween, naturally there will be ghost stories too.
He will also be unveiling his newest title, SHADOW OF THE OHSHAD, an anthology of his best columns written for the Southern Arizona newspaper, "The Oracle."
The book includes 45 of his newspaper columns, beginning with the first story he ever wrote for The Oracle appearing in January of 2000 - SHADOW OF THE OHSHAD (OhshaD is the O'odham word for jaguar) which is also the first story in the book.
The last story in the book is also about jaguars, including recent sightings of wild jaguars returning to Arizona and the southwest.
The jaguar pictured on the cover of the book is the infamous Macho B, whose tragic capture in February just outside Tucson is told in detail.
The 45 stories in the book cover a wide variety of the history, mythology, legend, and natural sciences of southern Arizona. Every has won two Best Lifestyle Feature awards from the Arizona Newspaper Association, both times for articles about the Apache culture, "The Naichee Ceremony" and "Losing Geronimo's Language" which are also included. There are pieces about other Native American cultures including the O'odham, Navajo Codetalkers, and the Hopi hero, Lori Piesetewa.
Every is also the author of CAT CANYON SECRETS, BARRIO LIBRE POEMS, INCA BUTTERFLIES and DRUNKEN ASTRONOMERS.
The Well Red Coyote is located at 3190 W. Highway 89A, at the corner of 89A and Dry Creek Road. For more information, call 282-2284 or go to www.wellredcoyote.com.
