On Thursday, January 16th, author Greg McNamee will present “The Gila: River of History” at 10:30 a.m. at the Wellton Library. Six hundred miles long from its source in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico to its confluence with the Colorado River above Yuma, the Gila has been an important avenue for the movement of birds, animals, plants, and peoples across the desert for millennia. Many cultures have sprung up on its banks, and millions of people depend on the river today—whether they know it or not. Gregory McNamee, author of the prizewinning book Gila: The Life and Death of an American River, presents a biography of this vital resource, drawing on Native American stories, pioneer memoirs, the writings of modern naturalists such as Aldo Leopold and Edward Abbey, and many other sources. Think of it as 70 million years of history packed into an entertaining, informative hour.
Gregory McNamee is a writer, editor, photographer, and publisher. He is the author of 40 books and more than 6,000 articles and other publications. He is a contributing editor to the Encyclopædia Britannica, a research fellow at the Southwest Center of the University of Arizona, and a lecturer in the Eller School of Management, at the University of Arizona.
The Wellton Library is located at 28790 San Jose Avenue in Wellton. For more information, call (928) 785-9575.
This program is made possible by a grant from Arizona Humanities, with local funding provided by Friends of the Wellton Library.