Ferndale Library Picks with Board President Pat Dengate
(Jeff Milo, FPL Circulation Specialist, July 15, 2014)
Pat Dengate has been serving on our Board of Trustees for five years, with nearly two full years as President. Mr Dengate is also an esteemed local artist with talents in woodcut prints and illustration. Naturally, then, he also serves our Arts & Exhibition Committee in curating and coordinating local art exhibitions.
Pat’s Picks
With the terrible deaths of 15 Sherpas on Mt. Everest in April, many of us (even those who have actually plodded up the sides of more modest mountains) wonder anew at this strange obsession some people have 
with going to the most forbidding, uncomfortable, and dangerous places on Earth. It is a fascinating topic, and there are several excellent options for armchair (and actual) mountaineers to explore it. Here are just a few of my favorites.
Non-fiction:
“Annapurna” by Maurice Herzog
The classic recounting of the 1950 French team that climbed the first 8,000-meter peak.
Catalog Link: http://bit.ly/1n2vDH0
“Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer
A page-turning, yet introspective, telling of another disaster on Mt. Everest in 1996.
Catalog Link: http://bit.ly/1mOJWx9
“No Picnic on Mt. Kenya” by Felice Benuzzi
A rollicking, true adventure in which WWII Italian prisoners escape a British POW camp to climb Mt. Kenya, then sneak back into camp.
(The Library currently does not own a copy of this book. But, if you purchase it on Amazon, a percentage of your purchase will go to support The Friends of the Ferndale Library, more info: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/20-8612471)
Fiction:
“The Eiger Sanction” by Trevanian
A fun thriller, full of intrigue, and with lots of mountain climbing in the Alps. The better-known movie was 
based on this book.
Catalog Link: http://bit.ly/1mOJHCa
“A Change in Altitude” by Anita Shreve
Anita Shreve dissects another crumbling relationship, as only she can, in the context of an ascent of Mt. Kenya.
Catalog Link: http://bit.ly/1rbnFNs
Fiction for children (and grown-ups):
“Tinten in Tibet” by Hergé
A Tintin graphic novel in which the boy detective and Capt. Haddock solve a mystery climbing in the Himalayas. One of my favorite Tintin books; I enjoyed it as much as my kids did.
Catalog Link: http://bit.ly/1yhAeaD
Whatever you do, if you see “The Abominable” by Dan Simmons, about some Nazis dressed up like the giant snowman on Mt. Everest—run the other way. It’s abominable.
The board meets the third Thursday of each month, unless otherwise announced. Meetings begin at 7:00 PM at the library, and are open to the public.
Board Meeting – July 17th 7pm – Community Room
Ferndalepubliclibrary.org
For previous Library Picks see…
http://oaklandcounty115.com/2014/07/01/ferndale-library-picks-with-kelly-bennett/
http://oaklandcounty115.com/2014/06/18/ferndale-library-roundup-best-of-summer-for-youth/
http://oaklandcounty115.com/2014/06/03/ferndale-library-roundup-who-needs-hogwarts/
http://oaklandcounty115.com/2014/05/15/ferndale-library-roundup-bff-roadtrip-edition/
http://oaklandcounty115.com/2014/05/01/ferndale-public-library-round-up-best-in-books-and-more-2/
http://oaklandcounty115.com/2014/04/15/ferndale-public-library-round-up-best-in-books-and-more/