grew up in Southern Utah in the 50's and 60's traveling with his grandfather who was an avid photographer. Al worked for Mine and Smelter Supply Company and had several accounts to visit in the area. Many of these visits evolved over time into lengthy photographic sojourns. They often stayed with A. L. "Doc" Englesbee, a retired dentist and well-known rock hound in Fruita, Utah. (His residence is now a state park located next to the Capitol Reef NPS headquarters.) Using Doc's as a base camp, they shot both still and 8mm B&W images in and around Moab, Canyonlands, Escalante, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Goblin Valley, Kodachrome Flats, Glen Canyon and more.

Inspired by these memories and knowledge of the area, Ted now uses the latest panorama photographic techniques and software and is able to capture viewing angles as wide as 180°. "It's been a quest of mine for many years to revisit and capture what eluded my grandfather all those years ago. He would be so happy and impressed to know that I've been able to come just a little bit closer."

Ted now lives in Denver, Colorado and owns a small web site and graphic design business. With the exception of a few college years on both coasts, he has been a regular and frequent Moab visitor most of his life. Since 1983, Ted has been regularly biking, hiking, camping, and shooting in and around Moab. As a member of the National Mountain Bike Patrol and part-time tour guide, he visits southern Utah several times each year. "Thanks to Al, Southern Utah will always be a very special and personal home away from home."

This month's pick is a three-volume  set of the Holy Bible from 1823 printed in Cambridge, England.  This would be a tremendous Christmas gift.  Early nineteenth-century leather-bound bibles are not often found in this condition.

Who: David V. Herlihy, author of The Lost Cyclist
When: October 12, 2010, 7 PM

Please join us in welcoming David Herlihy as he presents his epic tale, The Lost Cyclist.

In the late 1880s, Frank Lenz of Pittsburgh, a renowned high-wheel racer and long-distance tourist, dreamed of cycling around the world. He finally got his chance by recasting himself as a champion of the downsized "safety-bicycle" with inflatable tires, the forerunner of the modern road bike that was about to become wildly popular. In the spring of 1892 he quit his accounting job and gamely set out west to cover twenty thousand miles over three continents as a correspondent for Outing magazine. Two years later, after having survived countless near disasters and unimaginable hardships, he approached Europe for the final leg. He never made it. His mysterious disappearance in eastern Turkey sparked an international outcry and compelled Outing to send William Sachtleben, another larger-than-life cyclist, on Lenz's trail.

Bringing to light a wealth of information, Herlihy's gripping narrative captures the soaring joys and constant dangers accompanying the bicycle adventurer in the days before paved roads and automobiles. This untold story culminates with Sachtleben's heroic effort to bring Lenz's accused murderers to justice, even as troubled Turkey teetered on the edge of collapse.

Sylvia Torti is both a biologist and a writer, whose creative writing often bridges the worlds of science and humanities. Her artistic residency awards have taken her to Spain, Brazil, and Whidbey Island, Washington. She earned her Ph.D. in 1998 from the University of Utah, Department of Biology, where she currently works as the Station Director for the Entrada Field Station.

The Scorpion's Tail is a suspense-filled novel that explores the struggles of indigenous people in southern Mexico during the Zapatista rebellion, where people are caught between their traditional lives and the modern world. The Mexican Zapatista Uprising that occurred in 1994 was witnessed first-hand by Torti, giving her a unique perspective as she realized her need to understand the uprising and the many different cultures involved. Her novel interweaves points of view that are both touchingly personal and global in reach, opening up discussion around the cultural, historical, and environmental contexts of this event as well as the broader issues of dual cultures and languages within Utah. The Scorpion's Tail won the Miguel Marmol Award for first work in English by an author of latino/a decent.

Susan Vogel is a writer, publisher, and independent scholar. She fell in love with Mexico at age 19. Vogel studied at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico in Mexico City in 1977 and holds a BA in English from San Francisco State University and a JD from University of California, Hastings College of the Law. In 1985, she learned about Pablo O'Higgins and began her 20+ year search to find out "how a blond-haired, blue-eyed kid from my high school (East High School in Salt Lake City) became a Mexican muralist."

Susan Vogel's book, Becoming Pablo O'Higgins, tells the intriguing story of how a blond-haired, blue-eyed Presbyterian from Salt Lake City became a celebrated Mexican muralist and a "Chicano" artist. Beginning as an assistant to Mexico's most famous muralist, Diego Rivera, in 1924, O'Higgins kept his U.S. citizenship for most of his life but sought to be accepted as a Mexican.