Media Contacts: Leanne Ingle, Communications Spec., lingle@timberland.lib.wa.us; 360-704-4508.

"Big Burn" author, Jeanette Ingold, talks at local Timberland libraries

In the summer of 1910, dozens of fires blazed across Idaho and Montana and blew up into one of the Northwest’s most devastating wildfires, still known as "The Big Burn," the title and setting of visiting Montana author Jeanette Ingold’s new award-winning young adult novel.

Ingold (pictured left) will give public talks at three local libraries: the Shelton Timberland Library, 7 to 8 p.m. April 8; the Yelm Timberland Library, 7 to 8 p.m., April 9; and the Tumwater Timberland Library, 2 to 3 p.m., April 12. The presentations are free of charge and geared to a middle school age to adult audience. Copies of Ingold’s books will be available for purchase and signing after the programs.

The presentation includes a slide show, some discussion of the writing process, and a look at the variety of research materials and resources Ingold uses to write historical fiction. The audience will also hear some history, some fire science, and some firefighter lore, Ingold said. "I tell of tracking down the story for "The Big Burn" and bringing it forward to the young people, like my son, who fight forest fires today," said Ingold.

Library phone numbers for more information: Shelton, 426-1362; Yelm, 458-3374; Tumwater, 943-7790. Timberland Regional Library website: www.timberland.lib.wa.us. Ingold’s: www.jeanetteingold.com. The presentations are being sponsored by the libraries’ Friends of the Library groups.

Timberland Regional Library serves Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston counties at 27 community libraries and 6 school-based cooperative library centers. For information on any subject, the public can telephone Timberland’s Central Reference Service at 704-INFO (704-4636) from the Olympia area including Shelton, or 1-800-562-6022, toll-free, from all other areas in the district. Anyone needing special accommodations to participate in a library’s program may contact the library 4 days in advance.