Kurt Hoelting in conversation with Saul Weisberg- Apprentice to the Wild

Join Village Books and North Cascades Institute in welcoming Kurt Hoelting and Saul Weisberg to the Readings Gallery to celebrate Hoelting's latest book, Apprentice to the Wild!

In Apprentice to the Wild, Kurt Hoelting charts his encounters with wildness and risk as a commercial fisherman and wilderness guide in Alaska, while mapping his simultaneous exploration of the wild within as a Zen practitioner and mindfulness teacher. In later chapters, he explores what it means to become an elder in turbulent times.

Kurt Hoelting grew up by the shores of the Salish Sea, and worked summers for fifty years as a commercial fisherman and wilderness guide in Alaska. As a Zen practitioner, he founded Inside Passages in 1994, leading mindfulness-based kayaking expeditions in Southeast Alaska for twenty-five years. He taught Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to veterans at the VA Hospital in Seattle, and offers mindfulness trainings and retreats within the Cascadia bioregion. Kurt is also the author of The Circumference of Home, which was a finalist for the 2011 Washington State Book Award. He lives on Whidbey Island.

Saul Weisberg worked as a wilderness climbing ranger, field biologist, fire lookout and commercial fisherman, before starting North Cascades Institute in 1986. Now retired after 35 years as executive director, he loves paying attention to the natural world, canoeing in the rain, walking in the mountains and writing poems. Saul is author of Headwaters: Poems and Field Notes, North Cascades: The Story Behind the Scenery, and From the Mountains to the Sea: Natural History of the Skagit River Watershed. He lives in Bellingham with his wife Shelley and a cat named Finch.

North Cascades Institute envisions healthy Northwest ecosystems where all communities and species thrive. Our mission is to inspire environmental stewardship through transformative learning experiences in nature. Since 1986, we have helped connect people, nature and community through the hands-on study of the natural and cultural history of the Pacific Northwest.

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