Jagged Edge & Between the Covers: Ski-Lit Author Series

03 Jan Jagged Edge & Between the Covers: Ski-Lit Author Series

Author David J. Rothman in Telluride featured at two nights of literary fun, January 7, Talking Gourds, at Arroyo Wine Bar and January 8, Jagged Edge Mountain Gear

Not only is David Rothman the featured poet for Talking Gourds Poetry Club on Tuesday, January 7, at 6 p.m., Arroyo Wine Bar, he is also the inaugural writer to present at the Ski•Lit Author Series on Wednesday, January 8, 7 p.m,. at Jagged Edge Mountain Gear. A collaboration by Between the Covers Bookstore and Jagged Edge Mountain Gear, the series aims to bring writers expounding on snow and snow sports to the Valley. All are encouraged to bring camp chairs and lots of friends!

THE BOOK, “LIVING THE LIFE”:

“Thinking about my own romance with the alpine world over the years has led me to discover one of the places where cause and effect come together. I may not be able to see this place of fusion clearly, or all at once, but it does exist and I can certainly sense it. This book is my attempt to give that place its name. I wrote it because I wanted to help give American skiing a written language as soulful as that of fishing, surfing, mountaineering, sailing and other environment sports, a quality it seemed to lack when I was growing up.

Skiing does not create a bounded playing field, but rather accepts and transforms the places where we pursue it. These essays are windows into how I’ve lived significant parts of my own life in those places and in that way, and I offer it up in the hopes that it will resonate with yours. For if skiing is not a sport, but a way of life, it touches far more than mountains and snow—it comes into contact with friendship, love, grief,  joy, sorrow, history, politics, ambition, faith, tragedy, comedy, failure, triumph, audacity, remorse, delight, and regret, which is to say: everything that matters. It is those deep emotional realities that are at the heart of life. And you have no choice but to live that life. So live it.”

(From the introduction)

THE RAVES:

“Poet, powderhound, musician, ex-racer, teacher, philosopher– all sides of Renaissance man David Rothman are on display in this collection, which ranges from satire to whimsy to the profoundly grateful and the essential questioning. Emerson? Check. Thoreau? Check. Petrarch? Only David Rothman would put Petrarch in a story about skiing’s “earthly enjoyment.” In a voice that sparkles with intelligence, he is capable, in the end, of deep sincerity. So spake “The Dude in the Parking Lot,” who says of a late-season epiphany at Arapaho Basin: “All that really matters is being there.” David Rothman is a writer who skis and a skier who writes, very well.” —Peter Shelton, author of “Climb to Conquer “and “The Snow Skier’s Bible”

“It’s a select few who let their passion dictate their lifestyle. Doing so requires the sacrifice of a certain sense of normalcy, but the payback is tenfold in experiences that are extraordinary. Rothman is one of those few, and he articulates the highs, and lows, of that life choice perfectly in these pages. Living the Life is about one man’s relationship with the mountains, but the stories are applicable to anyone who lets his passion lead the way.”—Derek Taylor, editor, mtnadvisor.com, editor, Powder, 2007-12.

“Riders of the snow who still appreciate words will enjoy Living the Life. Rothman’s tales, poetic in bursts, transcend the experience of skiing and connect it to the paths we stride, glide and stumble through in everyday life. It is Rothman’s take on how skiing is life, how it is not just the path, but also the mountain the path climbs.” —Craig Dostie, Founding Publisher and Editor, Couloir

“Through a series of poignant and powerful personal essays, David Rothman exposes a soul skier’s raison d’etre. Anyone who rides, glides, or slides on snow will appreciate the mountain tales told in ‘Living the Life.’” —Lance Waring (who will introduce David)

THE BIO:

David J. Rothman has been an East Coast NCAA Division I alpine ski racer, mountain sports journalist, and ski and snowboard academy headmaster in Colorado. He co-founded the Crested Butte Music Festival and is poet-in-residence for Colorado Public Radio. He is the Director of the Poetry Concentration in MFA in Creative Writing at Western State Colorado University and teaches creative writing and composition at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and at Lighthouse Writers Workshop of Denver. He lives in Boulder and Crested Butte.

AUTHOR CONTACT & WEBSITE INFORMATION:

rothmandavidj@msn.com

http://conundrum-press.com/living-the-life/

http://www.coloradopoetscenter.org/poets/rothman_david/

FYI … Ski•Lit author Series event #2:

Looking ahead, Porter Fox, author of “Deep: The Story of Skiing and the Future of Snow” will present his well-researched and somewhat scary theory about where skiing and the industry is heading. Could it all be over in 75 years? If so, what’s Telluride’s 75-year plan? At Jagged Edge, 7 p.m., Wednesday, January 28. Again, bring camp chairs!