I am happy to announce that I am one of four presenters at an upcoming event at Folio: A Seattle Anthenaeum. For those who don’t know Folio, it’s part of a national community of 21 membership libraries in North America that provides a full schedule of programs and discussion groups, as well as library collections that are primarily made up of private libraries.

It’s a fantastic opportunity to learn about Pacific Northwest history from some truly notable historians, and I am honored to be part of the team. Here is the background:

Folio Forum

When Britannia Ruled the Northwest

Four noted historians discuss the era of dual sovereignty in the Pacific Northwest
Co-presented by the British American Business Council (Northwest Chapter)

Wednesday, April 26, 7 pm
$10 at the door
$5 for Folio Members
Reception to follow
Click here to RSVP

We will be sending out a podcast recording of the session as well,
so if you can’t attend in person, there will still be a chance to hear the talks.

Panelists

Junius Rochester:  A Seattle historian, lecturer, and author of numerous books on local history, including “Roots and Branches, the Religious Heritage of Washington State” (with David Buerge) and histories of Madrona and Madison Park neighborhoods. Rochester will focus on the fur trade that brought two rival British companies into the region.

David M. Buerge:  A Seattle teacher and historian specializing in the history of native groups. His new biography, Chief Seattle and the Town that Took his Name, will be published by Sasquatch Books next fall. Buerge will focus on the impacts of the white settlers and traders on native groups and the period of interracial cooperation that marked those early days.

Gar LaSalle: A Seattle-based filmmaker, doctor, and novelist. His trilogy of novels (“Widow Walk,” “Isthmus,” and “The Fairness of Beasts”) explores the 1857 beheading of settler Isaac Ebey (of Ebey’s Landing fame on Whidbey Island) by vengeance-seeking Northern tribes and the long search by Ebey’s widow for her missing child. LaSalle will discuss Ebey, the Pig War, and the Northern tribes.

Robert W. Merry: A distinguished American historian and publishing executive who now lives on Whidbey Island. His biography of President James Polk (1844-48), “A Country of Vast Designs,” recounts the momentous times that produced the settlement of the disputed Canadian/Northwest boundaries. Moderator David Brewster is president of Folio. He collaborated with David Buerge in editing “Washingtonians: a Biographical Portrait of the State,” published by Sasquatch Books, which Brewster founded.