OLLI at MSU to host Feb. 10 talk by bestselling author Michael Punke
From MSU News Service
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Montana State University, in partnership with the Belgrade Community Library, will host “One Book Belgrade: ‘Ridgeline’ Featured Speaker” at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 10, at the library. The event is free and open to the public. The presentation will be preceded by a social with refreshments at 5:30 p.m.
New York Times bestselling author Michael Punke will discuss and answer questions about his new novel “Ridgeline.” The book is featured in the 2022 One Book Belgrade community read series, which offers events based on the novel’s themes and histories. Punke will be available to sign books.
Punke is also author of “The Revenant” about frontiersman Hugh Glass, which was adapted in to a 2015 feature film. Event organizers say the author’s immersive, vivid storytelling and historical insight return for “Ridgeline,” which takes place in 1866 on the heels of the Civil War and during a new war and clash of cultures on the Western frontier. The novel grapples with questions of conquest and justice that still echo today.
Punke is a former deputy U.S. trade representative and was an ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Switzerland. He is now vice president of public policy for Amazon Web Services. He formerly wrote about history for Montana Quarterly magazine and was an adjunct professor at the University of Montana. In addition to “The Revenant” and “Ridgeline,” he is the author of “Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mine Disaster of 1917” and “Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West.” He lives in Montana.
Seating is limited and advance registration is encouraged. However, walk-ins are welcome. For more information or to register, visit the OLLI at MSU website at montana.edu/olli.
The Belgrade Community Library Foundation and First Interstate Bank sponsor these collaborative free community programs.
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at MSU is a program of Academic Technology and Outreach. ATO works across the university to support and advance its land-grant mission through unique and innovative opportunities for outreach and engagement. •