Courtesy of Dick Dorworth

Thursday, November 1
Literary Lunch Break
Noon – 1:00 p.m.
Max Bell Auditorium

Dick Dorworth

Night Driving

Dick Dorworth’s memoir Night Driving, Invention of the Wheel & Other Blues is a record of one man’s journey through the backroads and mountain ranges of the world.

Former U.S. ski team racer, speed skier, and coach, Dorworth was one of the leading figures during the 1960’s “Golden Era” of ski racing and is also a mountain guide and pioneering climber. He has been described as the “beat” writer of the mountain community — and his collection of essays, Night Driving, follows the development of U.S ski racing and rock climbing from the wake of the Second World War through the destruction of Vietnam. His writings have appeared in many publications including Ski, Skiing, Men’s Journal, and Backpacker magazines.

The classic title essay “Night Driving” includes descriptions of the six month trip Dorworth took in 1968 when Yvon Chouinard, Lito Tejada-Flores, Doug Tompkins, and Chris Jones drove from California to Patagonia on the way to make the third ascent of Mount Fitzroy. Another, “Instinct and the Eventual Tragedy,” explores the use of instinct as a survival tool for mountaineers. “A Vegetarian Memoir” chronicles one of the most profound paths ever penned about becoming a vegetarian through observations and experiences living in Yosemite’s Camp 4 and “living off the land” in Patagonia.

Dorworth will be signing books after his presentation.