Bronwen Dickey and John Lane discuss their books Pit Bull and Coyote Settles the South

Wed 6/1, 7pm: Bronwen Dickey and John Lane discuss their books Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon and Coyote Settles the South

Please note: this is a dog-free event, sorry but Fido will have to read the book at home!  Thanks! 

About Pit Bull:
When Bronwen Dickey brought her new dog home, she saw no traces of the infamous viciousness in her affectionate, timid pit bull. Which made her wonder: how had the breed--beloved by Teddy Roosevelt, Helen Keller, TV's "Little Rascals"--come to be known as a brutal fighter? Her search for answers takes her from nineteenth-century New York City dogfighting pits--the cruelty of which drew the attention of the recently-formed ASPCA--to early twentieth-century movie sets where pit bulls cavorted with Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton; from the battlefields of Gettysburg and the Marne, where pit bulls earned presidential recognition, to desolate urban neighborhoods where the dogs were loved, prized, and brutalized. Whether through love or fear, hatred or devotion, humans are bound to the history of the pit bull. With unfailing thoughtfulness, compassion, and a firm grasp of scientific fact, Dickey offers us a clear-eyed portrait of this extraordinary breed, and an insightful view of Americans' relationship with their dogs.

Bronwen Dickey is an essayist and journalist who writes regularly for the Oxford American. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, Slate, The Best American Travel Writing 2009, Newsweek, and Outside, among other publications. In 2009 she received a first-place Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award.

About Coyote Settles the South:

One night, poet and environmental writer John Lane tuned in to a sound from behind his house that he had never heard before: the nearby eerie and captivating howls of coyotes. Since this was Spartanburg, South Carolina, and not Missoula, Montana, Lane set out to discover all he could about his new and unexpected neighbors.

Coyote Settles the South is the story of his journey through the Southeast, as he visits coyote territories: swamps, nature preserves, old farm fields, suburbs, a tannery, and even city streets. On his travels he meets, interrogates, and observes those who interact with the animals—trappers, wildlife researchers, hunters, rattled pet owners, and even one devoted coyote hugger. Along the way, he encounters sensible, yet sometimes perplexing, insight concerning the migration into the Southeast of the American coyote, an animal that, in the end, surprises him with its intelligence, resilience, and amazing adaptability.

John Lane is a professor of English and environmental studies at Wofford College. His books include Waist Deep in Black Water, Chattooga: Descending into the Myth of Deliverance River, Circling Home, and My Paddle to the Sea.