LOCAL AUTHOR, COLUMNIST TO HEADLINE WRITERS AND WINE

     Sunday, October 6th sees the return of Writers & Wine for its yearly presentation at the Fern Ridge Library and this year’s featured author will be none other than esteemed writer and columnist Bob Welch.
 
     Welch’s columns on everyday people and everyday life used to grace the pages of the Register-Guard twice a week and were enjoyed by many. Who could forget his tales about becoming a grandfather, wiffleball games in his north Eugene backyard, and, of course, his references to wife Sally, better known as “She Who?” Twice, Welch won the National Society of Newspaper Columnist’s “Best Writing” award, a well-deserved honor. When he stepped down to enjoy a well-earned retirement, it was like saying goodbye to an old friend.
 
     Bob Welch is also the author of more than two dozen books, including The Wizard of Foz, Track & Field Writers of America’s 2019 Book of the Year, and American Nightingale, an Oregon Book Award Finalist and featured on ABC’s Good Morning America.
   
      For Writers and Wine, however, Welch will be discussing his latest work, Seven Summers (And a Few Bummers), a sequel to Cascade Summer (2012) both of which chronicle his completion of the 2,650 hike of the Pacific Crest Trail with his brother-in-law Glenn over a decade of summers. Seven Summers provides the answer to one question among many: After “just doing Oregon,” are two sixty-something brothers-in-law capable of a hike that serves up defeat to more than half who attempt it? Poignant, poetic, and outrageously funny, this engaging tale helps readers understand the soul of America’s iconic trail, find humor in aging, celebrate the gift that is friendship, and whether one hikes or not, urge the reader to consider living a life with a deeper thirst for adventure.
 
     Presented by the Fern Ridge Library Foundation, Writers and Wine also features wine from Silvan Ridge Winery. Raffle tickets, including a $400 gift certificate to the Overleaf Lodge in Yachats, are on sale for $10 and Fun Raffle tickets to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and other prizes are available for $5 each. One does not need to be present to wine.
 
     For those who cannot attend but would like to participate, new to Writers and Wine this year is a gift bag purchase for $55 that includes a copy of the book, gift card for $25 that can be used at Silvan Ridge Winery, all in a library tote bag that may be picked up during regular hours at the library after October 7th.
 
    
 For more information and ticket sales, visit www.frlfoundation.org/events or purchase tickets at the Fern Ridge Library for $65 per person or $100 per couple. The event runs from 3:30 – 6:00 p.m.