BOONE—On Nov. 19, environmental writer Jimmy Guignard will read from “Pedaling the Sacrifice Zone: Teaching, Writing, and Living about the Marcellus Shale” about living, working and raising a family in the middle of the hydrofracking boom in Pennsylvania.

The reading begins at 7 p.m. in Belk Library and Information Commons Room 421 at Appalachian State University. It is sponsored by the Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Department.

Guignard, who is also a university professor and avid cyclist, has witnessed the gradual transformation of the rural landscape his family calls home into an industrial sacrifice zone. In his new book he grapples with the meaning of place and the power of words.

Juggling his roles as disinterested professor, anxious father and citizen, and reluctant activist, Guignard reveals how the rhetoric of industry, politicians and locals reshaped his understanding of teaching and his faith in the force of language. From the vantage point of a cyclist, Guignard tracks the takeover, pedaling thousands of miles through Tioga and surrounding counties, where he encounters increased truck traffic, crosses pipeline construction on trails, and passes a growing number of flaring gas wells. Before the dust settles, the Marcellus Shale is expected to support as many as 100,000 natural gas wells on more than 20,000 well pads in Pennsylvania.

Guignard is associate professor at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania where he teaches students to write and ride mountain bikes. He blogs at https://pipelineroad7.wordpress.com.

For more information, contact Dr. Jen Westerman at [email protected] or 828-262-2493.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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