Saturday, July 21: Montana-based historian Peter Stark joins us for a reading from his new book, Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged America’s Founding Father. 1pm.

Stark, a historian and seasoned adventure writer, paddled, hiked, and climbed the region where young Washington’s story played out. Stark recounts Washington’s early exploits into the wilderness with singular empathy, bringing to bear his own insights into the psychological stresses of the unknown. In this vivid telling, Stark breathes new life into a Washington who exists largely outside the lore of American history.

Peter Stark is the author of the New York Times bestseller Astoria, along with The Last Empty Places, Last Breath, and At the Mercy of the River. He is a frequent contributor to Outside Magazine, has written for Smithsonian and the New Yorker and has been nominated for a National Magazine Award. He lives in Montana with his wife and children.