Last weekend we were lucky enough to participate in Covington, Kentucky’s annual Farmer’s Fair. The Farmer’s Fair was created to encourage people to support area farmers by eating local and eating fresh. The honored speaker was Ed Begley, Jr. Star of the hit Planet Green series, Living With Ed. Mr. Begley also signed copies of his best-selling books “Living Like Ed” and “Ed Begley, Jr.’s Guide to Sustainable Living”.

All of the best local farmers and restaurants were at the event, along with everyone’s favorite bookstore to-be… Roebling Point Books and Maps! We are already looking forward to being involved in next year’s event. Our company is so happy to be a part of such a great event and community.

(Had to include a picture of my pup working at the Farmer’s Fair)

The Keen Team has just returned from an exciting week at the Outdoor Retailer Convention in Salt Lake City. We traveled from far and wide to show off our Wilderness Press and Menasha Ridge Press guides. I think it was quite a success!

We had several authors, athletes, and non-profit founders stop in to sign their books (pictured below). Among them were:

• Six-Time Grantee of the National Geographic Expeditions Council, Jon Bowermaster
• Georgia Author of the Year Award Winner, Winton Porter
• Professional kayakers and film makers, Andy Maser and Trip Jennins
• Professional kayaker and founder of the First Descents Foundation, Brad Ludden

Outdoor Retailer was an amazing experience. We got to hear some great speakers on what’s in store for the outdoor industry and outdoor world. Not only that, we also got to check out all the new gear for the upcoming season! We are all looking forward to the next show.

Attending Outdoor Retailer next week? Stop in the Wilderness Press booth #32108, for free adventure books and meet the awesome authors who will be signing them! Below is our booth schedule, come visit!

Tuesday, August 3

1:00 - Winton Porter, Georgia Author of the Year recipient signs his AT-Trail Burner Just Passin’ Thru

4:00 - Brad Ludden, founder and the First Descents Foundation and Professional Kayaker will sign his first descent tale inside First Descents: In Search of Wild Rivers

Wednesday, August 4

12:00 - Jon Bowermaster, Six-time grantee of the National Geographic Expedition Council and founder of the OCEANS 8 Project signs Crossing Antarctica

2:00 - Andy Maser and Trip Jennings, professional Kayakers and founders of Epicocity Project will sign their first descent tale in First Descents: In Search of Wild Rivers

If getting cool books and meeting even cooler people isn’t your thing, stop in to compete in our  Four Square App contest. Check in to our booth (#32108) and “Shout Out” your favorite book for your chance to win a guidebook prize-pack tailored specifically to your region.

The Morning Journal writer Scot Allyn sat down with Craig Heimbuch on a Saturday afternoon in Lorain, Ohio. Their chat centered on Craig’s new book Chasing Oliver Hazard Perry. Here’s the outcome of their visit together:

Solo car trip inspires online magazine editor to compose insightful look into past

Avon Lake native writes book about Lake Erie hero (video)

LeBron is gone—along with our visions of NBA championships. Chalk it up to Cleveland luck. Or beat those blues with a copy of Chasing Oliver Hazard Perry (Clerisy Press, 2010), by Cleveland’s own Craig Heimbuch.

In this hilarious and moving travel memoir, Heimbuch explores his local roots—and how he learned to expect the worst and assume his luck will always be bad. This view has drawn him to Oliver Hazard Perry, hero of the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813, ever since a family trip to the Perry Memorial on Put-in-Bay when he was ten.

Perry had good luck in spades—and Heimbuch sets out to grab some of that mojo, driving around Lake Erie and stopping at places associated with the heroic commodore. Along the way he ruminates about his love for the lake and the city, even as his car breaks down, his map misleads him, and his accommodations are less than accommodating.

Heimbuch’s book, his first, recently won a Great Lakes/Great Reads award from the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association. It heralds a dynamic new voice in literature, one we can call our own—and always will be one of us. Chasing Oliver Hazard Perry is a love letter to Cleveland and Lake Erie by a very talented and very funny writer. He’s clever enough to clearly see our area—warts and all—and he relishes all of it. His new book will cure the LeBron blues and renew our pride in the place we call home.

Craig Heimbuch is an award-winning journalist and graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is the former managing editor of Cincinnati Gentlemen Magazine and has worked for weekly and daily newspapers in Ohio and Virginia. He is currently the editor-in-chief of ManoftheHouse.com and lives in Southwest Ohio with his wife, Rebecca, and two sons, Jackson and Dylan.

Chasing Oliver Hazard Perry may be purchased at bookstores and on the Web at www.ClerisyPress.com

Chasing Oliver Hazard Perry

By Craig Heimbuch

Clerisy Press – May 2010 – 275 pages, black and white pictures throughout

Paperback – ISBN 978-1-57860-345-9 – $17.95

If you’re interested in quicksand pits, grizzly bear stalking, flash floods, and man vs. goose fights, then this might interest you. These are the experiences Jack Bennett faced while researching the best day hikes across the country for his new book Dream Hikes Coast to Coast.

In a recent review of Dream Hikes, The Cleveland Plain Dealer said “Bennett’s descriptions and impressions of the trails often border on poetic.” Inside this guide you will find more than just a scenic hike “Some encompass history, such as the Chaco Canyon pueblos of New Mexico and the Billy Yank Trail of the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, where 51,000 troops were killed or wounded during the Civil War.”

So if you’re a history lovin’, adventure seeking, hiking in the great outdoors kinda guy (or gal), give this book a try!

Click HERE to see the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s full review of Dream Hikes Coast to Coast.

There are only two days left in Keen Communications’s special summer discount offer. Go to Keen Communications and enter code “summerpaddle” at checkout to receive your discount. Remeber this offer expires on Thursday July 15th.

Keen Communications is the home of three great imprints: Clerisy Press, Menasha Ridge Press, and Wilderness Press. Each imprint offers unique books, made with a quality that is hard to find these days.  Whether you are interested in your city’s sports teams, paddling through churning whitewater, or finding the most accurate and complete guide to the hike of your dreams, Keen Communications offers it all. So, browse through everything they offer and find the perfect book for you!

Need an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life? Try Peaceful Places: Los Angeles. This new guide offers 110 carefully researched tranquil sites within the City of Angels and neighboring communities. A recent LA Times Travel Blog says it best, “No one ever accused LA of being Tranquility Base. 10 million people, 6 million cars, 100 million headaches — give or take a few million.  But there are pockets of peace, and Laura Randall has enumerated them”.

Not from LA? Not to worry! This series is just beginning, but already includes Peaceful Places guides to New York City and Los Angeles and will soon be including San Francisco and Chicago. Look for a guide coming to a stress filled city near you!

Last weekend the 46th annual Gaya Awards were held at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. Winton Porter snagged the Author of the Year award, beating out State Senator Max Cleland in the Best Memoir category for his first book, Just Passin’ Thru. Inside Just Passin’ Thru Porter tells the story of his store Mountain Crossings,  a historic trading post which sits astride the Appalachian Trail. He sketches some of the memorable souls who have passed through it—looking for gear or a place to sleep, coffee or gossip, souvenirs or advice. Congrats to Winton!

For more details on the Gaya Awards visit GeorgiaWriters.org

It’s time for that annual event that tries to coax drivers out from behind their steering wheels and onto a pair of bicycle wheels, even if just for a little while. You an check out the League of American Bicyclists’ official site for links to events in your area. They even have an email address posted so that you can submit events that they may not be aware of.

We’re looking forward to Bike to Work Week (May 17-21) and Bike to Work Day (Friday, May 21), but we also enjoy riding bikes to access places that just wouldn’t be feasible by car (and certainly not as fun). In fact, we have a great mountain bike rider and author blogging with us. Plus, Wilderness Press publishes some very comprehensive books on finding amazing old railroad beds to cruise on a bike.

Let us know of any bike events in your area or where you like to get out and cruise.