Fascination With Flying Prompts Two-Volume Book

Spokane author/filmmaker Irv Broughton, whose documentary “Burke: The Story of a Frontier Town” played recently on KSPS-7, is looking toward publication of his ninth and 10th books.

According to Broughton, the first half of “Hangar Talk” - a two-volume collection of interviews with pilots - should be available from Eastern Washington University Press in the spring. Volume two will follow, depending on the success of the first book.

Broughton, who teaches television and filmmaking at Spokane Falls Community College, is a native of Florida who spent much of his childhood in Massachusetts. “I’ve always been interested in flying,” he says.

That’s why he spent more than 10 years doing the 70-some interviews, talks that included veterans of both world wars, Vietnam and Desert Storm and various civilian flyers.

Broughton’s previous books include interviews with filmmakers, writers and a collection of men writing about their fathers that he edited: “A Good Man: Fathers and Sons in Poetry and Prose” (Fawcett, 286 pages, $20 ISBN 0-449-90747-3).

By the way, if you’re interested in ordering a copy of “Burke: The Story of a Frontier Town,” call Broughton at 838-1617. The price is $24.95.

The Cheney connection

If you didn’t notice, Willow Springs 40 is out. You can recognize it from its fuschia-colored cover (although we prefer to think of it as hot pink).

Individual copies of the publication, Eastern Washington University’s literary journal, cost $5.50. You can find them at Auntie’s Bookstore, at the EWU Bookstore and other various sites.

Yearly subscriptions are $10.50 (Willow Springs is published twice a year, in January and June). Send your checks to Willow Springs MS1, Eastern Washington University, 526 Fifth St., Cheney, WA 99004-2431.

By the way, if you pick up a copy, check out the three poems by Corvallis writer Peter Sears. Every poetry collection boasts its treasures.

On the dog

In the newest edition of their travel book “On the Road Again With Man’s Best Friend” (Dawbert Press, 426 pages, $19.95 paperback) authors Dawn and Robert Habgood have constructed a list of canine-friendly bed and breakfasts, inns, hotels and resorts along the West Coast.

From Coronado, Calif., to Quadra Island, British Columbia, the Habgoods outline what they consider to be the most “pet-friendly accommodations” they could find.

They even visited Spokane, where they stayed at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park.

While lauding the hotel for its design - “the natural beauty outside has also been incorporated into its lobby,” they write - the authors were impressed with Spokane in general.

“Spokane is a great destination for people and their dogs, because there are an abundance of outdoor diversions,” the Habgoods wrote. “This is not the sort of city where it is difficult to find green space; it seems to be everywhere - a fact appreciated by both dogs and their friends.”

Tales of mystery

When Salvatore M. Trento last came through Spokane, he was hawking his book “Field Guide to Mysterious Places of the West.” That was in February, 1995, and Trento gave a lecture slide show at Auntie’s Bookstore.

In October, Trento will see a new book hit the bookshelves. “Field Guide to Mysterious Places of the Pacific Coast” (Henry Holt, 213 pages, $18.95 ISBN 0-8050-4450-7) details even a couple of mystery spots near Spokane.

One, the “runic stone,” was discovered by a Robert McKinley in 1926. Turns out it earned the area a lot of publicity, mainly because, Trento tells us, an “internationally acclaimed expert on Viking runes” declared markings found on the rocks north of Spokane as proof that Vikings had explored the Inland Northwest.

Sure. It was later determined that the rock symbols were Native American in origin.

“Although many of the symbols were vaguely suggestive of runes, they clearly were not runes,” Trento wrote. “But popular theories of the time created the mind-set for such flotsam.”

Trento lists other “mysterious” sites of the area, such as the Painted Rocks at Nine Mile Falls and the petroglyphs on the Snake River, south of Clarkston, Wash.

For seniors only

As she has for years, Virginia White will teach a writer’s workshop, lead a Book Bunch discussion group and hold a self-publishing workshop during the fall session of classes sponsored by the seniors program of the Institute for Extended Learning.

Classes begin in September and continue through December (the self-publishing workshop is scheduled for Oct. 27). For registration and fees information, call 533-3393. To register with a credit card, call 533-3770.

Correcting an oversight

The book that prompted Tacoma News Tribune writer Steve Maynard to contact Spokane author Mitch Finley (see last week’s column) is Finley’s newest effort, “The Seeker’s Guide to Being Catholic” (Loyola Press, $10.95 paperback). By the way, Finley reports that the book is in its second printing of 5,000.

, DataTimes