Wednesday, October 30, Eric Harvie Theatre, 8 p.m.

Greg Child:  "Over The Edge"

At dawn on August 12, 2000, four of the United States' best young climbers — Jason "Singer" Smith, John Dickey, Tommy Caldwell and Beth Rodden — were kidnapped at gunpoint from a big wall in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan by members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. In "Over The Edge" Greg Child re-creates their ordeal in minute-by-minute detail — from the first ricocheting bullets to the controversial decision made by the Americans to gain their freedom.
More on Over the Edge and Greg Child.

Tim Cahill:  "Hold the Enlightenment: More Travel, Less Bliss"

Tim Cahill’s latest adventures from his new book, "Hold the Enlightenment: More Travel, Less Bliss", take him from Saharan salt mines to the Congolese jungle. In his self-described desire "to overcompensate rather than cave in to a natural bent for couches and quiches" Cahill has criss-crossed the globe, earning a reputation as one of the most perceptive — and funniest — travel writers working today.

Pierre Berton

Pierre Berton, Canada's most widely-read historian, author of forty-seven books, and recipient of three Governor General's awards read a short passage from "The Arctic Grail" — a fascinating history of the golden age of Arctic exploration.