FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

January 29, 2008

U of IA WRITER TO PRESENT WORK ON NATURALIST PAUL GRUCHOW AT GRINNELL COLLEGE

GRINNELL, IA.--Thomas Dean, special assistant to the president at the University of Iowa, will present "Giving Voice to a Quiet Place: Paul Gruchow, Prairie Prophet," on Mon., Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in ARH 305 on the Grinnell College campus. Dean will discuss the life and work of the late Paul Gruchow and the Minnesota author’s insights as a naturalist and writer.

Dean, who directs the Iowa Project on Place Studies, edited the book of essays, "The Grace of Grass and Water: Writing in Honor of Paul Gruchow." His presentation at Grinnell will explore Gruchow’s insights into the prairie landscape, the meaning of home and community, the status of place in the educational system, and the fragility and resilience of life. Gruchow, who died in 2004, wrote six books about nature, living in modern society, and environmentalism that have been described as lyrical, intense, and prophetic.

Dean’s presentation is sponsored by the Grinnell College Center for Prairie Studies. For more information, go to http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/cps/. Alumni Recitation Hall (ARH) is located at the corner of 8th Ave. and Park St. on the Grinnell College campus.

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