BOONE—Erik Reece will talk about his book “Lost Mountain: A Year in the Vanishing Wilderness: Radical Strip Mining and the Devastation of Appalachia” Thursday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 114 Carol G. Belk Library and Information Commons at Appalachian State University.

The free event is sponsored by Appalachian’s College of Arts and Sciences, Center for Appalachian Studies, Sustainable Development Program, Department of English, Appalachian Journal and Appalachian Voices environmental organization.

“Lost Mountain” describes how radical strip mining for coal in the mountains of Appalachia is destroying precious natural resources of the ancient mountains and the communities that depend on those resources.

The New York Times called Reece’s book “Riveting, important…Mr. Reece dissects the unholy alliances between politicians and the coal industry. He considers the effects of voracious globalism and suggests alternatives to a coal-based Kentucky economy. He underscores the urgency of sustainable forest management. And he suggests that taxes reflect the true social and environmental costs of coal.”

Reece teaches writing at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. His work appears in Harper’s, Orion and The Oxford American, among other publications.

He received the Sierra Club’s David R. Brower Award. His Harper’s story on which “Lost Mountain” is based won the Columbia University School of Journalism’s 2005 John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism.

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