Media Contact: Leanne Ingle, 360-704-4508; outside Thurston County calling area: (877) 284-6237, ext. 2508; e-mail: lingle@timberland.lib.wa.us.

Join Jennifer Hahn, seasoned wilderness guide, solo kayaker and naturalist, for an entertaining, information-packed slideshow and talk on the cultural, culinary and ecological uses of sea veggies, land plants and marine shellfish. At noon Tuesday, April 22, Hahn presents Feasting on Flotsam: Eating Between Tide and Forest as Cuisine, Culture, and Ecology at the Chehalis Timberland Library, 76 NE Park Street, Chehalis. The presentation, sponsored by the Friends of the Chehalis Timberland Library, is free of charge and intended for an elementary school to adult audience.

Ever eat a raw sea urchin? Barnacle stew? Samples of Hahn’s kelp chowder (minus the barnacles!) will be served up after the show. "If I had to pick a place for being marooned, it would be the shores and islands of the fecund Northwest coast where my favorite sea vegetables and plants grow," says Hahn. Displays of edible land plants from both sides of the Cascades—like those Hahn gathers to supplement dry food stores on her treks—will also be on view.

A veteran paddler, Hahn has guided natural history adventures and kayak trips in Washington, Canada, Alaska, Baja, Mexico and the Galapagos since 1987. She is the founder and former owner of Elakah! Kayak Expeditions and teaches for Elakah! and various businesses and organizations. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Studies and a B.A. in Writing, Literature and Ecology. Hahn honed her writing skills under Pulitzer-prizewinning author Annie Dillard. Recently, Hahn’s book, Spirited Waters: Soloing South Through the Inside Passage (Mountaineers Books, September 2001) won the Barbara Savage Miles from Nowhere Memorial Award for an adventure narrative. Copies of the book will be available for purchase after the presentation. For more information, people may call the library at 748-3301.