This informative, entertaining book tells the stories of floods, fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions that have affected people in Oregon. Then the book analyzes the natural cycles behind these events in order to help predict and prepare for future natural disasters. A final, fictional chapter describes what may happen when a major earthquake and tsunami next strike Oregon's coast.
The author of three novels and a dozen nonfiction books, Sullivan grew up in Salem, Oregon. He completed his B.A. degree in English at Cornell University under Alison Lurie, studied linguistics at Germany's Heidelberg University, and earned an M.A. in German at the University of Oregon. He reads in a dozen languages, plays the pipe organ, and enjoys backcountry ski expeditions.
Sullivan is known in the American West as the author who backpacked more than a thousand miles across Oregon's wilderness in 1985. His journal of that adventure, "Listening for Coyote," has since been chosen one of Oregon's "100 Books," the most significant books in state history.
In summer he writes at the log cabin that he and his wife Janell Sorensen built by hand in the wilds of Oregon's Coast Range, more than a mile from roads, electricity, and telephones. The rest of the year they live in Eugene, Oregon, where he volunteers to promote libraries and literature.
A list of Sullivan's books, speaking engagements, and favorite adventures is at www.oregonhiking.com .
