Big River—Spokane Launch Event
at Magic Lantern Theatre
On June 23 at the Magic Lantern Theatre in Spokane, WA, experience a multimedia journey along the Columbia River from source to sea with photographer David Moskowitz, author Eileen Delehanty Pearkes, and Executive Director of Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT), DR Michel.
In Big River: Resilience and Renewal in the Columbia Basin, (new June 2024 from Braided River) award-winning photographer David Moskowitz and writer Eileen Delehanty Pearkes illuminate the natural history, hydrogeology, beauty, and human activity on the Columbia River, while also highlighting the challenges facing the region and the people working on sustainable solutions.
This event is part of a series of international book events celebrating the book launch of Big River throughout the Pacific Northwest. Big River explores the Columbia River watershed as one living, interdependent entity that embraces a broad cultural and ecological perspective.
Through rich and comprehensive images of the land, river, and people and micro-interviews from diverse voices across the region, Big River explores the Columbia River Basin as a single living, interdependent entity.
The culmination of Moskowitz’s many years of photographing the river and exploring its watershed and Eileen’s decades of research, Big River seeks a path forward for the Columbia River watershed, balancing the demands around water, salmon, agriculture, energy, and climate with the fundamental need for a sustainable living river.
Big River will be available for purchase at Wishing Tree Books prior to the event, as well as on site at the book launch event on June 23 at Magic Lantern Theatre.
About the Authors and Speakers
DR MICHEL
Executive Director, Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT)
Executive Director of a five inter-tribal organization with membership including the Colville Confederated Tribes, Coeur d’ Alene Tribe, Kalispel Tribe, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, and Spokane Tribe. DR Represents the UCUT [Upper Columbia United Tribes] in regional fish and wildlife processes and forums.
DR is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, he has over 40 years of experience in Forestry and Natural Resource Management. He has a broad range of experience in the technical and policy aspects of working for tribes. He served eight years on the Colville Business Council as the Vice Chair and Chair of the Natural Resource Committee.
DR and his family enjoy camping and spending time on the Columbia River.
DAVID MOSKOWITZ
Big River photographer and author | speaker
Photographer, author, wildlife biologist, and tracker David Moskowitz is the author of Caribou Rainforest, Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest, and Wolves in the Land of Salmon, and coauthor of Peterson’s Field Guide to North American Bird Nests. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Sierra, High Country News, and Audubon Magazine, as well as by organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation, Endangered Species Coalition, and Nature Conservancy of Canada.
EILEEN DELEHANTY PEARKES
Big River author | speaker
Eileen Delehanty Pearkes explores landscape, history, and the human imagination through writing, maps, and visual notebooks, focusing on Indigenous culture and the power of water. She has researched the international Columbia River basin for more than two decades. Pearkes is the author of The Geography of Memory, A River Captured: The Columbia River and Catastrophic Change, and The Heart of a River. www.edpearkes.com