Congratulations to Eric Blehm!

Congratulations to author Eric Blehm for winning Barnes & Noble's Discover Award in the non-fiction category for his book The Last Season. According to Barnes & Noble, the contest is designed to highlight "debuting and under appreciated writers" who are "chosen solely on the basis of merit."

His book, a stirring investigation into the disappearance of legendary back country National Park Service ranger Randy Morgenson, has been met with a great deal of critical acclaim from publications ranging from the outdoor category to the mainstream. Mary Pipher, one of Barnes & Noble's Discovery Award judges, had this to say about the book:

For a book to be truly great, it must be about something much larger than its content. It must point readers towards their deepest life themes and brush up against the universal. Blehm's book is not only a carefully researched, well-written biography of an amazing man, it is also a page-turning mystery. But it transcends its story by exploring what it means to spend one's life in the wilderness in the last half of the twentieth century. Randy Morganson's life helps us see what we are missing and broadens our sense of what it can mean to be human.

Full disclosure: Eric is my uncle in-law.

Link (Thanks, Lorien!)