Author DAVID JAMES DUNCAN featured at Idaho Writers and Readers Rendezvous

A terrific line up of authors and publishing professionals are coming to this year's Idaho Writers and Readers Rendezvous. One of the best is James David Duncan.

Duncan is a father, a renowned fly fisher, a practitioner of what he calls “direct, small-scale compassion-activism,” and the author of the novels The River Why and The Brothers K, the story collection River Teeth, and the nonfiction collections My Story as Told by Water and God Laughs & Plays. He is also co-author of two fast-response activist books, The Heart of the Monster (2011, co-written with Rick Bass) and Citizen’s Dissent (2003, co-written with Wendell Berry).

Duncan’s work has won three Pacific Northwest Booksellers Awards, three Pushcart Prizes, a Lannan Fellowship, the Western States Book Award for nonfiction, a National Book Award nomination, an honorary doctorate from University of Portland, the American Library Association’s 2003 Award for the Preservation of Intellectual Freedom (with co-author Wendell Berry), and inclusion in more than forty national anthologies including Best American Essays, Best American Sports Writing, Best American Catholic Writing, and Best American Spiritual Writing (six times).

In a new Afterword written for this twentieth-anniversary edition, David James Duncan reflects on the genesis of his book and on the surprising link between fishing and wisdom.

The River Why, Twentieth-Anniversary Edition: Since its publication by Sierra Club Books more than two decades ago, The River Why has become a classic, standing with Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It as our era’s most widely read fiction about fly-fishing. This captivating and exuberant tale is told by Gus Orviston, an irreverent young fly fisherman and one of the most appealing heroes in contemporary American fiction.

Leaving behind a madcap, fishing-obsessed family, Gus decides to strike out on his own, taking refuge in a remote riverbank cabin to pursue his own fly-fishing passion with unrelenting zeal. But instead of finding fishing bliss, Gus becomes increasingly troubled by the degradation of the natural world around him and by the spiritual barrenness of his own life. His desolation drives him on a reluctant quest for self-discovery and meaning—ultimately fruitful beyond his wildest dreams.

Stylistically adept and ambitious in scope, The River Why is a touching and powerful novel by an important voice in American fiction.

THE IDAHO WRITERS & READERS RENDEZVOUS 2013

Come to the Rendezvous!

In the early nineteenth century the Rendezvous was the event of the year on the western frontier. Mountain men and Native Americans trapping along the streams and valleys of the Rocky Mountains gathered annually to sell their furs, trade for supplies, and tell stories. In that tradition, we welcome you to our annual gathering of writers and readers...

Featuring Keynote Speaker: New York Times bestselling author of over fifteen novels
C. J. Box

and a top-notch lineup of authors, editors, agents, screenwriters,
educators, publishers, and other industry professionals

• Author panels
• Writing workshops
• One-on-ones: Manuscript and pitch sessions
• Contests (cash awards!): Short story, poetry, short screenplay, and exciting new "collaborative story telling" categories
• Open mic nights
• Book signings and marketplace
• Small-group dining with an agent, editor, or author
• Saturday night awards banquet
• PLUS Pre-Conference Interactive Workshop on Thursday afternoon

Click here to learn about the speakers and program schedule, or to sign up for a one-on-one appointment for a manuscript evaluation (fiction, non-fiction, or screenplay), or pitch session.

CONTESTS FOR SHORT STORIES, SHORT SCREENPLAYS

University of Idaho Receives $3 million Grant to Develop Teaching Methods, Classroom Technology

From the desk of Michael Strickland

The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation is seeking to equip and train the next generation of teachers to help improve student achievement by awarding a $7.3 million grant to establish a pair of Doceõ Centers for Innovation and Learning at two Idaho universities, one public and one private.

The University of Idaho and Northwest Nazarene University will establish centers on their respective campuses. The U-Idaho center, located in the College of Education, will receive $3 million of the grant over three years and will focus on developing new teaching methods that incorporate technology in the classroom, known as blended learning. Funding for years two and three of the grant are contingent upon research results.

“The collaboration between the Albertson Foundation and the University of Idaho to enhance existing pedagogy is indicative of our mission as a national research university,” said M. Duane Nellis, president of the University of Idaho. “The research findings we anticipate as a result of this partnership will enable teachers and students to make the best choices in how we, as a state and nation, embrace technology in the classroom well into the 21st century.”

The Doceõ Centers will be launched in the spring of 2013 and will encompass the latest hardware and software available to educators.

Corinne Mantle-Bromley, dean of the University of Idaho’s College of Education, said the centers will help Idaho and other states gain a much deeper understanding of technology’s influence on student learning.

Research and evaluation of research findings will help inform the education community and contribute to the most effective strategies for blending technology into teaching, Mantle-Bromley said.

“What makes this funding so important is the research function that it supports. We will constantly be studying new, emerging technology tools. It will provide classroom teachers and school administrators with powerful information and findings on best practices. We will have the opportunity to partner with teachers as we study technology and its impact on P-12 student learning.”

The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation is a Boise-based, private family foundation committed to limitless learning for all Idahoans. Since 1997, the foundation has invested more than $500 million to improve education in Idaho. For more information about the Foundation visit www.jkaf.org.

Federal Judge Larry Burns will share his perspective on the judicial confirmation process at Northwest Nazarene University

The Alumni Association of
Northwest Nazarene University
invites you as our guest to a presentation by
The Honorable Larry Burns
U.S. Federal Judge for the Southern District of California
and alumnus of Northwest Nazarene University
Tuesday, the ninth of April, at 7:00 p.m.
in the N.N.U. Little Theatre
512 Holly Street

Judge Burns will share his perspective on the judicial confirmation process and how his faith influences his job. He will also cover topics of interest likely including his most recent case that involves the mass shooting in Tucson. Judge Burns attended NNU 1972-74 then transferred to Pt. Loma. He was appointed to office by President George W. Bush.

Questions may be directed to the Alumni Office alumni@nnu.edu or 208.467.8841

Born in Pasadena, California, Burns received a B.A. from Point Loma College in 1976 and a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1979. He was a Deputy district attorney of San Diego County, California from 1979 to 1985. He was an assistant U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of California from 1985 to 1997.

Judicial service

In 1997, Burns was appointed to serve as a magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

Burns was nominated by President George W. Bush on May 1, 2003, to a new seat on the Southern District of California created by 116 Stat. 1758. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 24, 2003 by a vote of 91-0. Burns received his commission on September 25, 2003.

On January 12, 2011, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit selected Burns to be the presiding judge for the trial of Jared Lee Loughner. Burns was selected, in part, for his prior experience with cases involving the federal death penalty. A judge from outside of Arizona was sought when all judges in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona recused themselves from the case due to their ties to the late John Roll, a federal judge who had been killed in the shooting.

On December 20, 2012; Burns wrote an op-ed column in the Los Angeles Times calling for a reinstatement of the federal assault weapons ban. In the article, Burns described himself as an ardent conservative and gun owner who nonetheless felt there was no "social utility" for high-capacity clips. Besides the 31-round magazine Loughner used in his Glock, Burns cited as examples the 100-round drum allegedly used by James Eagan Holmes in the 2012 Aurora shooting and the 30-round magazine used by Adam Lanza in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Burns called for Congress to reinstate the ban without the grandfather clause of the original ban, which allowed those who already owned a weapon on the banned list to keep it. "If we can't find a way to draw sensible lines with guns that balance individual rights and the public interest," Burns wrote, "we may as well call the experiment with American democracy a failure."