Springfield Celebrates Authors: John Larison and Deb Vanasse

Join two Oregon Book Award authors for a talk and reading at the Springfield Public Library.

John Larison’s most recent novel, Whiskey When We’re Dry, was a Los Angeles Times and Seattle Times bestseller, an Indie Next Pick, and a finalist for the Ken Kesey Award and winner of the Will Rodgers Medallion. It was named a Best Book by O Magazine, Goodreads, Entertainment Weekly, Outside Magazine, Powell’s, NPR’s All Things Considered, and others.

Whiskey When We’re Dry begins in the spring of 1885. Jessilyn Harney finds herself orphaned on the family’s remote ranch. She cuts her hair, dresses in men’s clothing, and sets off on her undersized horse to reunite with the last family she has left–a big brother turned notorious outlaw.

Deb Vanasse writes books that explore intriguing characters and hidden histories. After many years in Alaska, she now lives and works near Astoria on Oregon’s north coast.

A swashbuckling narrative of treachery and obsession, Roar of the Sea by Deb Vanasse is a tale of pirates, fur seals, competing governments, and near war. Nonfiction that reads like a novel, Roar of the Sea tells how a lone activist existing in the margins prevailed against the odds to save a species.