An award-winning author and historian will speak at West Texas A&M University for the Center for the Study of the American West’s Garry L. Nall Lecture in Western Studies.
Dan Flores, the A. B. Hammond Professor Emeritus of Western History at the University of Montana and an award-winning author, will speak about his latest book “Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals & People in America” at 7 p.m. Nov. 2 in Legacy Hall in the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on WT’s Canyon campus.
The event—which also is the last Distinguished Lecture Series event of the semester—is free and open to the public.
Flores holds a special interest in the High Plains and has delivered lectures at WT in previous years, said Dr. Alex Hunt, CSAW director, Regents Professor of English and WT’s Vincent-Haley Professor of Western Studies.
“‘Wild New World’ is a fascinating book that has a lot to do with the megafauna that lived in this region after the last ice age,” Hunt said. “It is to our advantage to understand the historical relationship between life in this region and the region’s climate. These things have both changed a great deal over time, and things are changing now. We have a lot to learn from this deep history.”
“Wild New World,” which is Flores’ 11th book, recently won the 2023 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award, and Kirkus Reviews named “Wild New World” as one of the best nonfiction books of 2022. Previous best-selling books by Flores include “Coyote America” and “American Serengeti.”
The Nall Lecture, held each semester by CSAW, honors Dr. Garry L. Nall’s service to WT and scholastic achievements. This endowed lecture series supports CSAW’s mission to promote the study of the American West by bringing a noted scholar to campus each semester.