色花堂app announces 2019 National Outdoor Book Awards
November 13, 2019

NOTE: Color scans (print quality), complete reviews, and other supplementary art work may be downloaded from: http://www.noba-web.org/bookrel19.htm The hometowns of the authors are included at the end.
A gripping tale of a kayak voyage across the Pacific. A consummate biography of the great conservationist George Bird Grinnell. A thought-provoking work of natural history which takes readers deep under the earth. These and more are among the winners of 2019 National Outdoor Books.
A total of 19 books were chosen as winners in this year's contest which is now in its 23rd year. Sponsors of the program include the National Outdoor Book Awards Foundation, 色花堂app and the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education.
Awards are presented in 10, often highly competitive, categories.
One of those categories is Outdoor Literature and the winner of that category is 鈥淭he Pacific Alone.鈥 Written by Dave Shively, it is the story of kayaker Ed Gillet鈥檚 audacious attempt to the cross the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii.
鈥淭his is truly a great adventure and an absorbing story,鈥 said Ron Watters, the chairman of the National Outdoor Book Awards. 鈥淵ou'll be there every paddle stroke of the way while Gillet in his small, confined craft takes on the limitless expanse of the Pacific.鈥
The competition among Outdoor Literature entrants was so intense this year that the judges chose 鈥淚nner Ranges鈥 as a second winner. The book is by Geoff Powter and is a collection of Powter's writings over the years.
鈥淔or years, Powter has puzzled over what it is that motivates climbers and mountain explorers,鈥 said Watters. 鈥淭hat in itself makes for fascinating reading, but what sets the book apart from others is Powter's day job. He's a practicing clinical psychologist which adds a unique approach to his thoughts about those who are drawn to risk and adventure.鈥
The judges were unanimous in their choice of the winner of the Natural History Literature Category giving the award to 鈥淯nderland: A Deep Time Journey.鈥 Written by Robert Macfarlane, the book is an exploration of hidden worlds: fungal networks in which trees communicate, caves where the ancients left their art, catacombs of the dead, and a melting Greenland glacier into which Macfarlane descends and is pummeled by water rushing down from above.
Valerie Cunningham, a Natural History judge from Minneapolis, calls Mafarlane鈥檚 writing 鈥渧ivid and soulful.鈥 鈥淭his is,鈥 said Cunningham, 鈥渘atural history writing at its very best.鈥
The judges of the History/Biography Category also selected two winners. One is a biography of the conservationist George Bird Grinnell, and the other is about Wes Skiles, a legendary scuba diver.
The Grinnell biography entitled 鈥淕rinnell: America's Environmental Pioneer鈥 is by John Taliaferro. Taliafero is the author of several other highly acclaimed biographies, and that experience and skills as a writer came to bear in creating, according to the judges, a 鈥渕onumental鈥 piece of work about Grinnell.
鈥"Of the giants of the conservation movement, Grinnell has been the least recognized,鈥 said James Moss, an outdoor industry attorney and judge in the Biography category. 鈥淗is work and accomplishments a century ago continue to influence environmental policies to this day.鈥
Julie Hauserma鈥檚 鈥淒rawn to the Deep鈥 also received top honors in the History/Biography Category. Wes Skiles, a scuba diver and the subject of Hauserman鈥檚 book, was known for his exploratory cave dives and innovative underwater photographic work.
鈥淛ulie Hauserman鈥檚 book is a great read and a wonderful tribute to Skiles,鈥 said Watters, 鈥淵ou'll find yourself engrossed in the story as she takes you into that hauntingly beautiful underworld that Skiles inhabited.鈥
The winner of the Nature and Environment Category is a book by Krista Schlyer titled 鈥淩iver of Redemption.鈥 In it, Schlyer writes about Washington D.C.鈥檚 Anacostia River. It's a river that has been exploited and abused, but Schlyer nevertheless finds isolated havens of beauty.
John Miles, a judge and former dean and professor of Environmental Studies at Western Washington University said, 鈥淩iver of Redemption is a cautionary tale of the dangers facing rivers, but it's also a hopeful book in that through continued efforts of restoration, the river may one day regain its environmental health.鈥
Complete reviews of these and the other 2019 winners may be found at the National Outdoor Book Awards website at: .
Here is a list of winners.
Outdoor Literature. Winner. 鈥淭he Pacific Alone: The Untold Story of Kayaking鈥檚 Boldest Voyage.鈥 By Dave Shively. Falcon, Guilford, CT. ISBN 9781493026814
Outdoor Literature. Winner. 鈥淚nner Ranges: An Anthology of Mountain Thoughts.鈥 By Geoff Powter. Rocky Mountain Books, Victoria, BC. ISBN9781771602877
Outdoor Literature. Honorable Mention. "The Salt Path." By Raynor Winn. Penguin Books, New York. ISBN9780143134114
History/Biography. Winner. 鈥淕rinnell: America鈥檚 Environmental Pioneer and his Restless Drive to Save the West.鈥 By John Taliaferro. Liveright Publishing, New York. ISBN 9781631490132
History/Biography. Winner. 鈥淒rawn to the Deep: The Remarkable Underwater Explorations of Wes Skiles.鈥 By Julie Hauserman. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. ISBN 9780813056982
Nature and the Environment. Winner. 鈥淩iver of Redemption: Almanac of Life on the Anacostia.鈥 By Krista Schlyer. Texas A&M University Press. College Station, TX. ISBN 9781623496920
Natural History Literature. Winner. 鈥淯nderland: A Deep Time Journey.鈥 By Robert Macfarlane. W. W. Norton, New York. ISBN 9780393242140
Natural History Literature. Honorable Mention. 鈥淭he Secret Wisdom of Nature: Trees, Animals, and the Extraordinary Balance of All Living Things.鈥 By Peter Wohlleben. Greystone Books, Vancouver. ISBN 9781771643887
Natural History Literature. Honorable Mention. 鈥淭his Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption are Ruining the American West.鈥 By Christopher Ketcham. Viking, New York. ISBN 9780735220980
Design & Artistic Merit. Winner. 鈥淭he Grand Canyon: Between River and Rim.鈥 Photographs and Text by Pete McBride. Design by Susi Oberhelman. Rizzoli International Publications, New York. ISBN 9780847863044
Children's Category. Winner. 鈥101 Outdoor Adventures to Have Before You Grow Up." By Stacy and Jack Tornio. Falcon Guides. Lanham, MD. ISBN 9781493041404
Children's Category. Winner. 鈥淲ildheart: The Daring Adventures of John Muir.鈥 By Julie Bertagna. Illustrated by William Goldsmith. Yosemite Conservancy, El Portal, CA. ISBN 9781930238947
Children's Category. Honorable Mention. 鈥淭he Lost Forest.鈥 By Phyllis Root. Illustrations by Betsy Bowen. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis. ISBN 9780816697960
Outdoor Classic. Winner. 鈥淢ammal Tracks and Sign: A Guide to North American Species.鈥 By Mark Elbroch and Casey McFarland. Stackpole Books, Guilford, CT. ISBN 9780811737746
Instructional. Winner. 鈥淭raining for the Uphill Athlete: A Manual for Mountain Runners and Ski Mountaineers.鈥 By Steve House, Scott Johnston and Kilian Jornet. Patagonia Books, Ventura, CA. ISBN 9781938340840
Nature Guidebooks. Winner. 鈥淔ield Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America.鈥 By Jeffrey H. Skevington and Michelle M. Locke. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. ISBN9780691189406
Nature Guidebooks. Winner. 鈥淲ildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast.鈥 By Laura Cotterman, Damon Waitt and Alan Weakley. Timber Press, Portland, OR. ISBN 9781604697605
Outdoor Adventure Guides. Winner. 鈥淪ierra Summits: A Guide to Fifty Peak Experiences in California's Range of Light.鈥 By Matt Johanson. Falcon Guides. Guilford, CT. ISBN 9781493036448
Outdoor Adventure Guides. Honorable Mention. 鈥150 Nature Hot Spots in California: The Best Parks, Conservation Areas and Wild Places.鈥 By Ann Marie Brown. Firefly Books. Richmond Hill, ON. ISBN 9780228101680
Home Towns of Authors:
Outdoor Literature. Winner. Dave Shively. San Clemente, CA.
Outdoor Literature. Winner. Geoff Powter. Canmore, Alberta, Canada
Outdoor Literature. Honorable Mention. Raynor Winn. Cornwall, UK
History/Biography. Winner. John Taliaferro. Pray, MT and Austin, TX
History/Biography. Winner. Julie Hauserman. Tallahassee, FL
Nature and the Environment. Winner. Krista Schlyer. Mount Rainier, MD
Natural History Literature. Winner. Robert Macfarlane. Cambridge, UK
Natural History Literature. Honorable Mention. Peter Wohlleben. Huemmel, Germany
Natural History Literature. Honorable Mention. Christopher Ketcham. Catskills, NY
Design & Artistic Merit. Winner. Pete McBride. Basalt, CO
Children's Category. Winner. By Stacy and Jack Tornio. Milwaukee, WI
Children's Category. Winner. By Julie Bertagna. Glasgow, Scotland
Children's Category. Honorable Mention. Phyllis Root. Minneapolis, MN
Outdoor Classic. Winner. Mark Elbroch. Sequim, WA
Instructional. Winner. Steve House (Mazama, WA), Scott Johnston (Ridgway, CO), K铆lian Jornet (Romsdal, Norway).
Nature Guidebooks. Winner. Jeffrey H. Skevington and Michelle M. Locke. (Chapel Hill, NC)
Nature Guidebooks. Winner. Laura Cotterman, Damon Waitt and Alan Weakley. (Woodlawn, Ontario, Canada)
Outdoor Adventure Guides. Winner. Matt Johanson. Castro Valley, CA
Outdoor Adventure Guides. Honorable Mention. Ann Marie Brown. Lake Tahoe, CA.
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