(First airdate: October 27, 2020) Port Townsend author, poet, speaker and coach Christine Hemp joins Cris to talk about her creative life and her first book Wild Ride Home: Love, Loss, and a Little White Horse, A Family Memoir. Reviews have called it a book of “kindness, compassion, love and resilience.” Despite stunning loss, optimism and a joy of life shine through.
(First airdate: September 2, 2020) The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse. Listen to Bill recite the poetry and talk about his travels in China over three decades. Why are poets so revered in China and even an illiterate farmer can quote passages?
(First airdate: August 5, 2020) Cris and Jennifer AKA Nicole Person talk about her new novel Keep Me Afloat set right here in Port Townsend. While completely fictional, readers will recognize hangouts from Chimacum to Uptown, your favorite coffee shop and Art gallery, as well as all our happenings. The characters span generations and their relationships will touch your heart.
(First airdate: July 1, 2020: Finding Them Gone: Visiting China’s Poets of the Past. Cris meets Red Pine AKA Bill Porter, translator of 20 books of ancient Chinese Poetry published by Copper Canyon. The conversation ranges from the Buddhist Heart sutra to Chinese Hermit Poets.
(First airdate: June 3, 2020) Cris talks with Samantha Ladwig, owner of Writers’ Workshoppe and Imprint Books, about taking ownership of a much-loved institution here in Port Townsend. Samantha is offering a new audio book service and has many ideas for new workshops and guest authors to increase the community of writers and readers on the peninsula.
(First airdate: May 6, 2020) Erica has written House Lessons: Renovating a Life, a memoir set in Port Townsend. She writes about the wonders and tribulations of renovating a house here in our City of Jesters and the changes her family undergoes during this time. As always, she and the book are totally engaging and authentic.
(First airdate: April 1, 2020) Kira’s novel Hollow Kingdom leads us into a post-apocalyptic Seattle. Our guide is a domesticated crow names S.T. who says “Life isn’t the same once you learn how deeply a tree feels.” It’s funny and irreverent, yet such a powerful warning for us all.
(First airdate: March 11, 2020) Cris talks with author, educator, cartoonist, graphic designer, and humorist Dana Sullivan about his many books for children and young adults. Based on his life, children, dogs and travels, we discover that these stories are fun for all!
(First airdate: January 29, 2020) Cris introduces the 2020 Community Read Author, John Larison and his book Whiskey When We’re Dry. Says the Seattle Times: “A smooth yet bracing Western yarn that both celebrates and subverts the romance of the Old West through more complex contemporary perspectives.”
(First airdate: January 1, 2020) Cris Wilson talks to Tamara Meredith, Director of Jefferson County Library, about her life in libraries, what is special about Jefferson County Library, and what we can discover there.
(First airdate: December 4, 2019) Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Crusts, Fillings and Life. Says Dorie Greenspan, award-winning author of Dorie’s Cookies: “Baking from Art of the Pie is like having pie maker Kate McDermott at your elbow, encouraging, instructing and cheering you on. Whether you’re a seasoned pie hand or a beginner with more enthusiasm than skill, Kate’s got you covered.” In Kate’s kitchen in Port Angeles, Cris Wilson enjoys a chat all about her and her wondrous philosophy of life and cooking.
(First airdate: November 20, 2019) Jennifer Pharr Davis is an American long-distance hiker, an author, a speaker, a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, and an ambassador for the American Hiking Society. She has hiked more than fourteen thousand miles on six different continents. In 2011, Pharr Davis set the unofficial record for the fastest thru hike of the Appalachian Trail with a time of 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes, an average of 47 miles a day. Cris talks with her about her book The Pursuit of Endurance: Harnessing the Record-Breaking Power of Strength and Resilence. We all need some of that!
(First airdate: October 2, 2019) Jennifer Gold aka Nicole Persun talks to Cris about her book “The Ingredients of Us”. Jennifer writes very believable, of the moment, books about women and their flawed relationships. This is a story about love, mistakes, second chances, and finding inner strength.
(First airdate: September 4, 2019) Rachel Muller is a storyteller and children’s author from Ladysmith on Vancouver Island. She spins us a tale on this edition of Booklovers’ Cafe.
(First airdate: August 7, 2019) KPTZ radio host Jerry Osborne joins CrisWilson to talk about his book Elvis: Like Any Other Soldier. It is a special 50th Anniversary edition commemorating Elvis’ army years. We have included recordings of young Elvis talking about his army experiences and some music that make this Booklovers’ broadcast unique.
(First airdate: July 3, 2019) Pacific Northwest author Alea Carroll talks to Cris about her book Silence the Echo. It is a genre-breaking page-turner – part science fiction mixed with fantasy and ecology thriller. There is even a young love triangle for romance fans.
(First airdate: 6/05/2019) Nationally known and beloved author Pam Houston talks to Cris about her new memoir Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country. This book is endlessly wise, funny, and full of heart, according to Tommy Orange author of There There.
(First airdate: May 15, 2019) Nationally known author and local favorite Erica Bauermeister talks to Cris Wilson about her new novel The Scent Keeper. In this intriguing and emotional story of family secrets and strengths, we follow a young woman growing up on an isolated island off the coast of British Columbia.
(First airdate: April 3, 2019) Teacher, author and media producer, Richard Friedericks joins Cris wilson to talk about his book Windhorse Warrior. The book offers an inside look at the struggles and aspirations of the Tibetan people during the 1950s. Politics, romance and spirituality are all interwoven into this story of human aspirations.
(First airdate: March 6, 2019) Cris Wilson and Community Read author Kathleen Dean Moore talk about her first novel Piano Tide. Set in a remote fishing village in Southeast Alaska, the intriguing and believable characters grapple with their environment on personal and existential levels.
(First airdate: February 6, 2019) Lyanda Lynn Haupt visits with Cris Wilson to talk about Mozart’s Starling who is said to have inspired the theme in the Piano Concerto #17 in G! From Vienna to Seattle, Lyanda helps us fall in love with a much maligned member of the avian tribe.
(First airdate: January 6, 2018) K.J. Dell’Antonia, former editor of the New York Times Motherlode Blog and contributor to the New York Times Well: Family section talks to Cris Wilson about her positive and encouraging book How to be a Happier Parent: Raising a Family, Having a Life, and Loving (Almost) Every Minute.
(First airdate: December 5, 2018) Bonnie J. Rough is a writer and speaker on sex education, parenting, gender, and the #MeToo movement. She visits with Cris Wilson to tell the story of her new book Beyond Birds & Bees: Bringing Home a New Message to Our Kids about Sex, Love and Equality.
(First airdate: October 31, 2018) In November on Booklover’s Cafe Cris Wilson talks to University of Victoria Professor Jason Colby about his 2018 book Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean’s Greatest Predator. From Namu to Lolita and the fate of our Southern Resident Pods this show is full of timely information.
(First airdate: October 3, 2018) Poet, blues musician and storyteller Gary Lilley joins Cris on the October Booklovers’ Cafe to talk about his 2018 books Bushman’s Medicine Show and The Hog Killing. Find out what really happened to Robert Johnson at the Crossroads.
(First airdate: September 2, 2018) The 2018 Huntingford Humanities Lecture is being given by author and conservation biologist Thor Hanson. Booklovers’ Cafe host Cris Wilson talks to Thor about his latest book Buzz: the Nature and Necessity of Bees.