色花堂app

POCATELLO, Idaho 鈥� The winners of this year鈥檚 2015 National Outdoor Book Awards have been announced. The annual awards program recognizes the best in outdoor writing and publishing.

Sponsors of the program include the National Outdoor Book Awards Foundation, 色花堂app and the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education.

Among the books honored is 鈥淔inding Abbey鈥� which won the History/Biography category. Author Sean Prentiss takes readers on a two-year journey to find the grave of the great environmental writer Edward Abbey. The whereabouts of Abbey鈥檚 grave is a closely guarded secret, known only to those who buried him and close family members.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a unique and clever approach to a biographical work,鈥� said Ron Watters, chair of the National Outdoor Book Awards Foundation. 鈥淧rentiss, in his attempt to find the grave, travels from Edward Abbey鈥檚 birthplace in Pennsylvania to the empty spaces of the desert Southwest. Along the way, we learn about Abbey鈥攁nd Prentiss.鈥�

Did he find the grave? Watters is not saying.

鈥淲hat I can say, however, is that the book is a creative treat. It鈥檚 a warm-hearted and elegantly written work and simply a joy to read,鈥� Watters said.

The History/Biography category is one of 10 categories that make up the awards.

One of the highlights of this year鈥檚 contest was the first award given to a work of fiction. The winning title is 鈥淛immy Bluefeather,鈥� authored by Kim Heacox.

Heacox鈥檚 story is about 95-year old Tlingit Native named Old Keb, the last living canoe carver in a small village in southeast Alaska. The old native begins work on what will become his last great canoe. Along with his grandson, two friends and a dog named Steve, they embark on a voyage to the Tlingit ancestral homeland.

鈥淭his is a masterful portrait of contemporary Alaska,鈥� Watters said. 鈥淲hat makes this story so appealing is the character Old Keb. He is as memorable as any character in literature and adds a humor and warmth that will keep you reading well into the night.鈥�

Two books won the Outdoor Literature category for works of non-fiction.

One of the winners is 鈥淭he Tower鈥� by Kelly Cordes, a historical look at Patagonia鈥檚 Cerro Torre, a mountain which is famous for its climbing difficulties and extremes of weather and wind. The legendary mountaineer Reinhold Messner famously described it as 鈥渁 shriek turned to stone.鈥�

Cordes investigates the controversial first ascent of the mountain by an Italian mountaineer. Was it really first climbed in 1959? If so, it was one of the great feats of mountaineering. If not, it was one of the sport鈥檚 greatest frauds.

鈥淚t鈥檚 more than just history,鈥� Watters said. 鈥溾�楾he Tower鈥� is also fine mountain literature in which the author becomes a part of the story. It鈥檚 a fascinating account about a mountain, about those who have endeavored to climb it, and about the secrets hidden in its mists.鈥�

The other non-fiction winner in the Outdoor Literature category is 鈥淧addlenorth.鈥� Author Jennifer Kingsley tells the story of six friends on a 54-day canoe journey on the Back River of northern Canada. On the journey, they deal with difficult whitewater, long portages, and days of violent winds.

What captured the judges鈥� attention according to Watters is the way that Kingsley dealt with the interactions between the members of the group.

鈥淥n any long wilderness journey the human challenges can be as daunting as the environmental ones,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ow do six people, dependent upon one another and placed in close quarters day after day, get along on such a long journey? That鈥檚 where Kingsley鈥檚 work really shines. She paints a vivid picture of the give and take, and the concessions each person needs to make to reach the journey鈥檚 end.鈥�

The winner of the Classic Award is Ernest Thompson Seton鈥檚 鈥淲ahb: The Biography of a Grizzly.鈥� The story was first published in 1900 and has been reprinted numerous times since.

The story chronicles Wahb鈥檚 life, beginning with the one-year-old鈥檚 loss of his mother and siblings, growing into a powerful bear and finally ending with his death in Yellowstone National Park.

Seton was an important figure in the outdoor world, helping to establish the Boy Scouts, and in 1910 authoring the first official Scout handbook. He also was a wildlife artist and a serious naturalist, his scientific contributions recognized by the National Academy of Sciences.

鈥淎lthough Wahb is a fictional account,鈥� Watters said, 鈥淪eton took pains to portray the bear鈥檚 behavior as accurately as it was known in his day. The great value of this edition is the supplemental material. It includes 100 pages of well-researched editorial notes which help in understanding our changing attitudes toward this remarkable mammal.鈥�

Among the other winners is Tony Angell鈥檚 鈥淗ouse of Owls鈥� which received top honors in the Nature and Environment category. For many years, Angell and his family observed pairs of western screech owls nesting near their home and it is those observations which form the basis of the book. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lovely book, made more elegant with Angell鈥檚 elegant pen and ink drawings sprinkled liberally throughout,鈥� Watters said. 鈥淚t certainly deserves a spot on every owl lover鈥檚 bookshelf.鈥�

The most visually dramatic book, and the winner of the Design and Artistic Merit category, is 鈥淭he Last Great Wild Places.鈥� It is a large format, coffee table style book of the work of photographer Thomas Mangelsen.

鈥淭he judges raved about this book,鈥� Watters said. 鈥淭hey were awed by Mangelsen鈥檚 photographic artistry and by the quality of the reproductions. It is a compelling display of nature photography, and it will take your breath away.鈥�
Complete reviews of these and the other 2015 winners may be found at the National Outdoor Book Awards website at: .

Below is a full list of award winners:

鈥� History/Biography. Winner. 鈥淔inding Abbey: The Search for Edward Abbey and His Hidden Desert Grave.鈥� By Sean Prentiss. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

鈥� Outdoor Literature (Fiction). Winner. 鈥淛immy Bluefeather: A Novel.鈥� By Kim Heacox. Alaska Northwest Books. Portland, OR.

鈥� Outdoor Literature (Non Fiction). Winner. 鈥淧addlenorth: Adventure, Resilience and Renewal in the Arctic Wild.鈥� By Jennifer Kingsley. Greystone Books, Vancouver.

鈥� Outdoor Literature (Non Fiction). Winner. 鈥淭he Tower: A Chronicle of Climbing and Controversy on Cerro Torre.鈥� By Kelly Cordes. Patagonia Books, Ventura, CA.

鈥� Classic. Winner. 鈥淲ahb: The Biography of a Grizzly.鈥� By Ernest Thompson Seton. Edited by Jeremy M. Johnston and Charles R. Preston. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.

鈥� Nature and the Environment. Winner. 鈥淭he House of Owls.鈥� By Tony Angell. Yale University Press, New Haven.

鈥� Nature and the Environment. Honorable Mention. 鈥淭he Bee: A Natural History.鈥� By Noah Wilson-Rich. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

鈥� Nature and the Environment. Honorable Mention. 鈥淭he Passenger Pigeon.鈥� By Errol Fuller. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

鈥� Natural History Literature. 鈥淭he Human Age: The World Shaped By Us.鈥� By Diane Ackerman. W. W. Norton & Company, New York.

鈥� Natural History Literature. Honorable Mention. 鈥淗 is for Hawk.鈥� By Helen Macdonald. Grove Press, New York.

鈥� Design and Artistic Merit. Winner. 鈥淭he Last Great Wild Places: Forty Years of Wildlife Photography by Thomas D. Mangelsen.鈥� Photography by Thomas Mangelsen. Text by Todd Wilkinson. Rizzoli, New York.

鈥� Children鈥檚 Books. Winner. 鈥淭his Strange Wilderness: The Life and Art of John James Audubon.鈥� By Nancy Plain. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.

鈥� Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Winner. 鈥淔ield Guide to Oregon Rivers.鈥� By Tim Palmer. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR.

鈥� Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Honorable Mention. 鈥淢uir Valley Pocket Guide.鈥� By Rick Weber. Friends of Muir Valley, Inc., Rogers, KT.

鈥� Nature Guidebooks. Winner. 鈥淕uide to Marine Mammals and Turtles of the U.S. Pacific.鈥� By Kate Wynne. Illustrated by Garth Mix. Alaska Sea Grant 鈥� University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK.

鈥� Nature Guidebooks. Honorable Mention. 鈥淏eetles of North America.鈥� By Arthur V. Evans. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

鈥� Instructional. Winner. 鈥淣OLS River Rescue Guide.鈥� By Nate Ostis. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, PA.