BOLD Presents: A Sampling of Indigo Authors’ Books

BOLD and Indigo: Editing, Design, and More­­­­ invite you to join us for BOLD Presents: A Sampling of Indigo Authors’ Books featuring Beverly Patkotak Grinage, Carolyn Wood, and Mitzi Zilka. The event is the first in a series celebrating the stellar writing of members of the Indigo community. Each featured author will read a selection from their body of work.

A member of the Iñupiat tribe in Alaska, Beverly Patkotak Grinage has made it her mission to preserve her rich tribal history by authoring books. She is the president emerita of Ilisagvik College, the only tribal college located in Alaska. She was raised in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, and her latest book is currently part of the curriculum for a college course on Iñupiat History and Culture. She has authored three nonfiction books: Iñupiat Nunaŋat – The Epic Story of Iñupiat Self-Determination; Taaqpak: The Great Umialik; Starvation to Salvation: Paul Patkotak, Apostle of the North.

Carolyn Wood gained fame as a 1960 Olympic gold medalist in swimming; at fourteen she became one of a handful of child athletes to win gold. Her first memoir, Tough Girl, chronicles her experience training for the Olympics alongside her later-in-life trek on the Spanish Camino de Santiago. Tough Girl was awarded the 2017 Benjamin Franklin Award by the Independent Book Publishers Association and the 2019 Buck Dawson Authors Award by the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Her second book, Class Notes, begins with her first year of teaching followed by a year working as the governess for Senator Robert and Ethel Kennedy’s family in 1968-69.

A lifelong Oregonian, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Oregon (BA English 1967) and Portland State University (MSW 1979, MS Education 1980), and taught high school English, literature, and composition for over thirty-five years. Wood is a member of the Oregon State Sports Hall of Fame, a fellow of the Northwest Writing Project, and a past participant in the Centrum, Fishtrap, and Banff Writers writing communities. Her work has appeared in Teachers as Writers, Elohi Gadugi Journal, REI Co-op Journal, Women Who Write, and Curve Magazine.

Mitzi Zilka was born in Portland, Oregon, into a family of nine children: six older brothers and two sisters. Cherished memories of reading Mother Goose are at her foundation. As a sixth-grader at St. Mary’s Cathedral, a substitute teacher, Mrs. O’Leary, opened the world of storytelling by impersonating each character in the stories she read in class. Her mother, a published writer and a profound lover of words, sat beside her with the Oxford Dictionary, illuminating word origins, and meanings. Her first attempt at writing came in middle school after being inspired by the song lyrics to Carole King’s Tapestry.

Since then, she has toiled over novels, feature screenplays, song lyrics, a television pilot, poetry and short stories, and even a movie trailer for a graphic novel can be dug out of her archives. She writes a regular freelance feature for the Skamania Pioneer Press in Stevenson, Washington, called River Folk – meeting one neighbor at a time. She resides there with her big band director husband, Gary, and their white standard poodle rescue named Gracie, otherwise known as Wack-a-doodle. She earned a master’s degree in Business Management from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, a B.S. from San Francisco State University, and a Professional Music Degree from Portland Community College. Much of her previous work entailed writing for trade magazines and newsletters. She travels between the U. S. and Australia, where her two grown sons reside. When she is not writing, she is singing professionally and teaching vocal jazz at Portland Community College and Columbia Gorge Community College.

She also recently completed her second book, Young Heroes, a dark and significant young adult story set in Portland, Oregon.

Following the readings, Indigo founder and executive editor Ali Shaw will interview our authors and open the floor to Q&A from the audience. Arrive early to grab a tasty beverage or snack and to wrap up your holiday shopping.

Event cohosted by BOLD Coffee & Books and Indigo: Editing, Design, and More.