‘Backpacker’ Editor and Author Visits NMU September 9, 2021

Northern Michigan University’s Visiting Writers Series will host a free presentation by award-winning journalist and Backpacker magazine senior editor Tracy Ross at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 9, in the Northern Center’s Peninsula II room.

Ross is the author of The Source of All Things: A Memoir, in which she struggles to reconcile her stepfather’s abuse with her desire to make her family whole again. She describes how nature, at its most wild and challenging, gave her the strength to overcome. An essay by the same title published earlier in Backpacker won the 2009 National Magazine Award and was selected for inclusion in The Best American Sports Writing and The Best American Magazine Writing.

Ross’ assignments have taken her to the wilds of Alaska, the ski slopes of Iran and the most remote reaches of Ecuador. She writes about exotic places and intriguing people, but mainly about the wilderness and how it intersects with the important issues in our lives. Her story, “Our Country Comes Skiing in Peace,” received a notable mention in Best American Travel Writing, and her work has also appeared in Outside and Women’s Sports Illustrated.

The event will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Masks are required.The Visiting Writers Series is sponsored by the NMU Department of English and the Graduate Writers Association. For more information, visit post ‘Backpacker’ Editor and Author Visits NMU September 9, 2021 first appeared on Broadcast-everywhere.net.