Take Best Places Guide To The Northern Rockies

There’s this bizarre notion shared by many people that just because we live in the Northwest we’re obliged to love being outdoors.

As if trees look any better up close than they do through my living-room window.

I’m just kidding here. I’ve gone camping once or three times in the past decade, and I’ve yet to suffer any bad effects - poison ivy, tick bites, frostbite, bear attacks, flashbacks of Vietnam.

In fact, I’m ready to head out again. And before I go, I’ll be sure to take along my copy of “Northern Rockies: A Best Places Guide to the Outdoors” (Sasquatch Books, 463 pages, $21.95 paperback) by Susan English and Kathy Witkowsky. There are at least a couple of reasons to consider it a credible resource.

One is the fact that it is part of the Best Places series. For those of you unfamiliar with this gaggle of publications, the Best Places guides (“Seattle Best Places,” “Northwest Best Places,” etc.) began as in-house publications of the Seattle Weekly.

Now they are among the mainstays of Sasquatch Books, the Seattle-based publishing house that puts out several lines of popular books ranging in genre from fiction to guidebooks, children’s stories to true-life adventures.

The second reason for trusting “Northern Rockies” involves its authors: Both have connections to The Spokesman-Review (now, now, be kind).

English, the S-R’s Weekend editor, is a one-time Spokane Chronicle sportswriter who in the past 20-odd years has worked her way through this newspaper’s ranks. A confirmed outdoorswoman and cat owner who regularly contributes to “Northwest Best Places,” she has taught as an adjunct journalism instructor at Whitworth College, Gonzaga University and Eastern Washington University.

Witkowsky, a former S-R reporter, is a free-lance writer based in Missoula. She, too, spends an inordinate amount of time in the outdoors.

From the northern Canadian Rockies to northwestern Wyoming, from central Idaho to south-central Montana, English and Witkowsky point out the best places (there’s that term again) to go skiing, hiking, fishing, camping and anything else you might want to do under the clear, blue sky. And they do so with reverence for the area about which they’ve chosen to write.

“One thing, and one thing alone, remains the common denominator for inhabitants of the Northern Rockies, whether third-generation ranchers or so-called ‘modem-cowboys’ who relocated within the last year,” the co-authors wrote: “we all live here by choice, rather than necessity. And it is this dedication to our extraordinary quality of life - and the determination to preserve it - that binds us. Whether you live here or are just visiting, we invite you to celebrate, cherish and preserve the splendor.”

As you do, look for me. I’ll be the one you can see through a plate-glass window, warm and dry as I enjoy the view.

Death in the valley

In his book “Death Stalks the Yakama” (Michigan State University Press, 278 pages, $24.95 paperback ISBN 0-87013-463-9), author Clifford E. Trafzer has constructed a scholarly, comprehensive study of the reasons for the “shockingly high mortality rates” among residents of the Yakama Reservation between the years 1888 and 1964.

“Many scholars have written about the consequences of disease for Native Americans,” wrote librarian Frederick E Hoxie, “but few have explored the matter with the precision and detail exhibited in this book. It opens new methods and explores new avenues for writing the history of American Indians in this century. Once again, claims that Indian people ‘have no history’ have been refuted.”

For further information on MSU Press, call (517) 355-9543.

It’s a grand old flag …

If the sight of red, white and blue brings a bit of moisture to your eye, you might want to catch the performance of Rogue Readers at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington.

The literary-minded performers figure to do for the Fourth of July what they’ve done in the past for other special days, most recently for Father’s Day. Expect a variety of tall tales and hum-along songs in celebration of the country’s birth.

For further information, call 838-0206.

Summer readers

The Spokane Public Library is holding a summer reading program that features morning storytimes at various branches, scheduled artist readings, toddler times, musical programs and so-called “evening voyages.”

There are even opportunities to learn how to surf the Internet.

All activities are free and open to the public. For information on specific dates and times, call one of the branch libraries, or call the downtown library at 626-5312.

Being fair to the falls

Speaking of Spokane Public Library, the downtown branch, which is at 906 W. Main, will be the location of a book presentation by J. William T. Youngs, author of “The Fair and the Falls: Spokane’s Expo ‘74, Transforming an American Environment” (Eastern Washington University Press, 627 pages, $60.

Youngs will read from his book on July 15 at 7 p.m. in room 1A. For further information, call 626-5312.

The reader board

Barb Schwartz, author of “If You Wear Out Your Body, Where Will You Live?” will read from her book at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Auntie’s Bookstore.

, DataTimes