Author Talk with Kevin Koch — Midwest Bedrock | Pearl Street Books

Join us in store to meet regional author Kevin Koch and learn about his book, Midwest Bedrock: The Search for Nature’s Soul in America’s Heartland, which takes readers on a journey across all twelve Midwest states to natural settings that defy typical stereotypes of the Midwest landscape.

Kevin invites readers to join him on a journey through the beauty of the Midwest and to discover such places as Wisconsin’s 1,100-mile Ice Age Trail that follows the furthest reach of the last glacier; Minnesota’s Lake Itasca, headwaters of the Mississippi River; and Indiana’s Hoosier National Forest, which still cradles hidden graveyards from long-abandoned farm communities.

Kevin is Professor Emeritus of English at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. He is author of “Skiing at Midnight: A Nature Journal from Dubuque County, Iowa;” “The Driftless Land: Spirit of Place in the Upper Mississippi Valley;” and “The Thin Places: A Celtic Landscape from Ireland to the Driftless.” More of his work, including shorter works on outdoor places and photos, can be viewed at:https://www.kevinkochdriftlessland.net/

“Kevin Koch is among the most respected literary voices in the Midwest,” writes John T. Price, author of ‘All is Leaf: Essays and Transformations.’ “In this beautiful new book, he serves as both guide and pilgrim, inviting readers to see anew a region that is often portrayed as flat and unchanging. Here, instead, is a place of mystery, discovery, and perpetual transformation. A place where the defining stories are written not by human hands, but by ice, wind, rock, water. A place of hidden recesses in the earth and in the hearts of those who have loved, defended, and grieved this land across centuries. As a life-long citizen of the Heartland, I am filled with gratitude for this informative, visionary journey.”