Sarah Alisabeth Fox's Blog, page 3

Downwind author Sarah Fox interviewed on Bainbridge Community Broadcasting

My kind of commute... en route to Bainbridge Island to discuss DOWNWIND.

This week I had the pleasure of riding the ferry over to Bainbridge Island to meet with my friend Channie Peters of Bainbridge Community Broadcasting. We had a wonderful discussion about my experience researching and writing the book, which you can listen to on the What's Up Bainbridge podcast on the BCB website. I'm looking forward to returning to Bainbridge on Sunday, July 19 to speak about Downwind at the beloved local and independent Eagle Harbor Book Co.

Thank you Bellingham!

Bellingham brought a fantastic set of questions to my talk on Downwind last week. It was a huge honor to speak at Village Books, and dear to connect with some of Bellingham's thoughtful writers, readers, scholars and activists.  If you live in the Whatcom or Skagit areas, please make a point of purchasing your copy of Downwind from Village Books.  They do incredible work in their community and they have been supporting authors like me for thirty-five years! They also have signed copies.

Downwind in the Cascadia Weekly today (and Bham's Village Books tomorrow!)

Today the Cascadia Weekly features a story on the writing of Downwind.  Check it out here! Tomorrow author Sarah Fox will be speaking about Downwind at Bellingham's own Village Books, at 7pm.  This week marks Village Book's 35th year in business... a remarkable achievement in a day and age when brick and mortar bookstores are disappearing from our neighborhoods.  Please come out to celebrate a remarkable independent bookstore, and pick up your copy of Downwind!

Ten days till Downwind debuts in Bellingham!

Bellingham friends! In ten days I'll be heading north to one of my favorite places...  Village Books. I grew up choosing titles there as a kid and a young adult, and I haunted the aisles when I lived in Bellingham in 2003, just before I headed off to grad school in Utah.  I'm especially thrilled to be speaking there during Village Book's 35th Birthday week.  (They're only 53 weeks older than me.) I can think of few independent bookstores I've loved or respected more. I look forward to seeing lots of familiar and beloved faces on Thursday, June 11, 7 pm!.

This week: Support the West Seattle Historical Society by purchasing Downwind and other titles!

This Friday, June 5, Downwind will be featured in the Words, Writers & West Seattle series at the Barnes & Noble in Westwood Village.  From 5-7 pm, I'll be speaking about the journey of writing the book, answering questions, and signing copies. It's my neighborhood so I'm particularly thrilled to be a part of this series, and I'm looking forward to seeing fellow WS faces. The best part though?

"Any purchases made by those attending the talk that afternoon and for the next five days will result in a contribution of 10 percent of proceeds to the Southwest Seattle Historical Society under the Barnes & Noble Bookfair program."

Please come on down and support Downwind: A People's History and the wonderful SW Historical Society!

DOWNWIND at The Evergreen State College

Speaking on Downwind at The Evergreen State College, 14 May 2015. Photo by Theresa Trebon

This past week I had the incredible honor of returning to my alma mater, The Evergreen State College, where I completed a Bachelor of Arts back in 2001.  I could not have researched or written Downwind without the training I received at Evergreen, an interdisciplinary college of the arts and sciences founded on inquiry and critical thinking.  A concern for social and environmental justice underscores many of the programs at Evergreen, which blend research from various disciplines to consider a central question or theme.  Four programs attended my talk: In Search of Lost Time, Where Are You: Introduction to Geography and Geographical Awareness, Counter Narratives: Songs and Stories Across Cultures, and Cultural Landscapes: Sustainable Communities, Environmental Justice and the Media. 

Honestly, I was ready to re-enroll right there. Each of the programs sounded incredible and worthy and fascinating. 

It was a thrill to discuss the power of interdisciplinary research for reckoning with pressing social and environmental problems with a group of scholars all deeply invested in doing similar work. 

Thanks for having me back, Greeners....

and thank you to my longtime mentor and former professor Sam Schrager, who gave me a really lovely introduction, and who taught me so much of what I know. (Look for a quote from him in Downwind)...

 

 

Back to my Geoduck roots

Some of you in the Pacific Northwest may have seen this story about the Evergreen State College this week.  It came as some overdue recognition and publicity for an incredible institution of learning, one many Washingtonians don't even know about. Tucked away in the woods outside of Olympia, TESC turns 44 this year, and its been doing incredible work for the duration.  I'm a Greener from way back (class of 2001) and this week I am honored to return to my roots to speak about my book.  Downwind is uniquely a product of the education I received at Evergreen.  Social and environmental justice were cornerstones of my learning as an undergraduate, and the thoroughly interdisciplinary training I received at TESC launched me into graduate school (and my research into nuclear history) with an ample toolkit for research and analysis.

I will be speaking at Evergreen this Thursday, May 14 in the COM Building Recital Hall from 12:00pm to 1:00 pm. 

DOWNWIND featured on Newberry Honor-winning author Kirby Larson's blog today!

I had the pleasure of reading with Kirby Larson while we were both serving as guest faculty for the Whidbey Writers MFA program this past January.  She's an accomplished author, recipient of numerous awards for childrens' literature, and a really lovely human being besides. She invited me to share a bit about how Downwind came to be in a guest post on her blog's Friday Friends feature, which has hosted some splendid writers in the past. Check it out here.

The Stories Ordinary People Were Telling...

Is Your State on this Map?

Areas of the United States crossed by two or more clouds from atmospheric nuclear tests in Nevada between 1951 and 1962.  Map created by researcher Richard Miller based on AEC records on radiation dispersal from weapons testing.  Widely distributed by downwinder activists to demonstrate how  the fallout from US tests blanketed most of the country during this era.

Areas of the United States crossed by two or more clouds from atmospheric nuclear tests in Nevada between 1951 and 1962.  Map created by researcher Richard Miller based on AEC records on radiation dispersal from weapons testing.  Widely distributed by downwinder activists.