Award-winning author Hampton Sides is coming to the Laramie County Library. Sponsored by Writers on the Plains, Sides will visit the area on May 1-2 to discuss writing techniques and read from his newest book, "Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West."
On Thursday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hilton Fort Collins, 425 W. Prospect St., Fort Collins, Colo., Sides will present “History with a Pulse: The Art and Craft of Making the Past Come Alive on the Page.”
On May 2 at 7 p.m. in the Cottonwood Room of the Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave., in Cheyenne, Sides will present “The Epic Story of Kit Carson: National Hero. Genocidal Maniac. Pick One.” A reception and book signing will follow each event, both of which are free and open to the public.
Sides is the author of the bestselling books "Ghost Soldiers" and "Blood and Thunder," among other works. "Ghost Soldiers" has sold more than a million copies and has been translated into a dozen foreign languages. It won the PEN USA West award for non-fiction and the Discover Award from Barnes & Noble, and was the basis of the Miramax film, The Great Raid. "Blood and Thunder" is a New York Times bestseller that Time Magazine named as one of the ten best books of 2006. Both the History Book Club and the Western Writers Association named it best history title of the year, and the book has been optioned by Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks, and is the subject of a new PBS documentary.
An editor-at-large at Outside magazine, Hampton's journalism has been twice nominated for National Magazine Awards for feature writing. Hampton graduated from Yale with a B.A. in history, and lives in Santa Fe. Writers on the Plains partners Colorado State University with Front Range communities and visiting authors in a series of readings and book discussions. The sponsors for this event include Colorado State University Libraries, the Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Fund, and the Laramie County Library System.
For more information about the Cheyenne event, call (307) 634-3561.
