About the Author . . . Slide Shows & Booksignings . . . Books in Print
The log cabin Bill and Janell built on a roadless portion of Oregon's Coast Range.
is the author of a dozen books and numerous articles about Oregon, including a "Oregon Trails" feature column for Eugene's Register-Guard. A fifth-generation Oregonian, Sullivan began hiking at the age of five and has been exploring new trails ever since. After studying at Deep Springs College in the California desert, receiving an English degree from Cornell University, and studying linguistics at Germany's Heidelberg University, he earned an M.A. in German literature from the University of Oregon.
Sullivan's hobbies include backcountry ski touring, playing the pipe organ, reading foreign language novels, and promoting libraries. He helped with the campaign to build Eugene's new library, served on the Oregon State Library Board, and is president of the Lane Library League, a citizen group with the goal of extending library service to the 80,000 people in Lane County who currently lack service. He also organizes three author events in Eugene each year -- the Oregon Authors Table at the Art & the Vineyard Festival on the 4th of July weekend, the Oregon Authors Table at the Lane County Fair in mid August, and the Authors & Artists Fair, a fundraiser for the Lane Library League at the Lane County Fairgrounds on the first Saturday in December.
He and his wife, Janell Sorensen, live in Eugene, but they spend summers in a log cabin they built by hand on a roadless stretch of a remote river in Oregon's Coast Range.
In 1985 Sullivan set out to investigate Oregon's wilderness on a 1,361-mile solo backpacking trek from the state's westernmost shore at Cape Blanco to Oregon's easternmost point in Hells Canyon. His journal of that two-month adventure, published as Listening for Coyote, was chosen in by the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission in 2005 as one of the 100 most significant books in Oregon's history.
Sullivan's most colorful guidebook is Oregon Trips & Trails, a guide to the state's most beautiful places, illustrated with 800 color maps and photographs. The book has details for visiting 100 star destinations worth a journey, 65 hiking trails, and 250 places to stay -- including campgrounds, bed & breakfast inns, and quaint hotels.
In April 2008 Sullivan published Oregon's Greatest Natural Disasters, an entertaining and provocative examination of the floods, fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions that have affected people in Oregon during the past 13,000 years. Sullivan shows that these events are actually part of larger natural cycles -- some more regular than others. Understanding the cycles can help reduce damage in the future. The final chapter in the book is fictional, set 12 years in the future when a massive earthquake and tsunami devastate the Oregon Coast.
Sullivan's other books include Hiking Oregon's History, Exploring Oregon's Wild Areas, and a popular series of 100 Hikes guidebooks to the regions of Oregon. Titles in that series include 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon, 100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades, 100 Hikes in Southern Oregon, 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Eastern Oregon, and 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Oregon Coast & Coast Range. Together with his brother, OSU business professor David Sullivan, Bill has co-authored two college computer textbooks, Desktop Publishing and The New Computer User. Bill has also edited and published two books written by his father, the late Salem newspaper editor J. Wesley Sullivan: Jam on the Ceiling and To Elsie With Love.
Sullivan's second novel is a "wacky mystery" entitled The Case of Einstein's Violin. In the book, an Oregon woman sells Einstein's violin case on eBay and finds herself pursued through Europe by international spies in search of a missing Einstein formula for quantum gravity. Sullivan's 2007 author tour paired the book with a slide show on Hiking in Europe that featured trails used as settings in the novel.
Sullivan's first novel, A Deeper Wild, is based on the true adventures of Joaquin Miller, the swashbuckling Oregon Country gold miner, editor, pony express rider, horse thief, and county judge who won international renown in 1872 as the "Poet of the Sierras."
Sullivan's memoir, Cabin Fever: Notes From a Part-Time Pioneer, published in 2004, tells the humorous and dramatic story of the 25 summers that he and his wife spent building a log cabin by hand on a roadless tract along a remote river in Oregon's Coast Range.
With the completion of the popular 5-book series of "100 Hikes" guides to Oregon's trails Sullivan has hiked nearly every public trail in Oregon. Now he is rehiking many of those trails, keeping his guidebooks up to date. 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Eastern Oregon, Second Edition (February 2008) features a dozen new trails, updated information on museums and rental cabins, and a 16-page color section that includes a wildflower identification guide. All of his "100 Hikes" books are updated every year or two to keep pace with changes due to storm damage, fires, construction, and changing fee systems.
Browse a catalog of Sullivan's books, read samples, and place orders.
William L. Sullivan presents about 30 slide shows each year at libraries, outdoor clubs, bookstores, museums, and community centers. He offers slide shows about each of his books, with a new show each year. Subjects currently available (click for descriptions and sample photos) include Hiking Oregon's History, Oregon's Most Beautiful Trips & Trails, New Hikes in NW Oregon & SW Washington, Hiking in Europe, Oregon's Greatest Natural Disasters, and Listening for Coyote. New in April 2008 will be "New Hikes in Eastern Oregon." The presentations are usually in Oregon, although he has presented in Germany and at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Most of the shows are free and open to the public.
May 2, Friday, 7pm. SALEM, slide show on "New Hikes in Eastern Oregon" at the Chemeketan clubrooms, downtown at 360-1/2 State Street, upstairs. Open to the public. Free.
May 3, Saturday, 1pm. SALEM, slide show on "Hiking Oregon's History" at the Mission Mill Museum, across 13th Street from Willamette University. Open to the public. Free.
June 26, Thursday, 7:30pm. EUGENE, slide show on "Oregon's Greatest Natural Disasters" at Tsunami Books, 26th and Willamette Streets. Open to the public. Free.
July 2, Wednesday, 7pm. EUGENE, slide show on "Oregon's Greatest Natural Disasters" at Barnes & Noble Books, 1163 Valley River Drive (across from Valley River Center). Open to the public. Free.
July 4-6, Friday-Sunday, 11:30am-7:30pm. EUGENE, booksigning at the Oregon Authors Table of the Art & the Vineyard Festival, in Alton Baker Park on the Willamette River across from downtown. Open to the public. Festival admission required.
July 19, Saturday. GLENEDEN BEACH, guided, catered champagne hike to Sullivan's private log cabin. A fundraiser for the Oregon Mozart Players, limited to 25 people. Tickets $60 at omp@oregonmozartplayers.org or 541-345-6648.
July 25, Friday, 11am. BEND, slide show on "Oregon's Greatest Natural Disasters" for the Clean Water Conference at the Mt. Bachelor Village Resort. Members only.
August 1-3, Friday-Sunday. BANDON, difficult backpack trip from the New River to Blacklock Point on Oregon's loneliest beach, co-sponsored by the Eugene Obsidians ( www.obisidians.org ) and the Salem Chemeketans ( www.chemeketans.org ). Lead by Sullivan. Limit 12. Members preferred. Trip fee of $3-15.
August 8, Friday, 7pm. FLORENCE, slide show on "Oregon's Greatest Natural Disasters" at Port Hole Books, 120 Maple Street. Open to the public. Free.
August 12-17, Tuesday-Sunday, 11am-10pm. EUGENE, booksigning at the Oregon Authors Table of the Lane County Fair. Open to the public. Fair admission required.
August 22-September 1, Friday-Monday, 10am-10pm. SALEM, booksigning at the Oregon Authors Table in the middle of the Jackman-Long Building of the Oregon State Fair. Open to the public. Fair admission required.
September 20, Saturday, 1pm. BEND, slide show on "Hiking Oregon's History" downtown at the Des Chutes Historical Museum at 129 N. Idaho Avenue. Open to the public. Free.
September 20, Saturday, 5pm. SUNRIVER, slide show on "Hiking Oregon's History" at Sunriver Books. Open to the public. Free.
October 13, Monday, 7pm. EUGENE, slide show on "Oregon's Greatest Natural Disasters" for the Eugene Bethel Lions Club at The Embers restaurant on Highway 99 near the Gilbert Shopping Center. Members and guests only. Dinner at 6:30pm.
October 21, Tuesday, 1:30pm. EUGENE, slide show on "Oregon's Greatest Natural Disasters" for the OASIS learning center, upstairs in the Macy's building at Valley River Center. Reservations required, and a very small fee is charged. Call 342-6611 for reservations.
October 28, Tuesday, 7pm. EUGENE, slide show on "New Hikes in Eastern Oregon" for the Eugene Audubon Society at the Eugene Garden Club building on High Street near 16th Avenue, 3 blocks from South Eugene High School. Open to the public. Free.
November 8-9, Saturday-Sunday, 9am-6pm. PORTLAND, booksigning at the Wordstock literary festival in the Oregon Convention Center. Open to the public. Free.
November 18, Tuesday, 7pm. PORTLAND, slide show on "Oregon's Greatest Natural Disasters" for the Mt. St. Helens Institute at the Lucky Labrador brewpub. Social hour begins at 5:30pm. Open to the public. Free.
December 6, Saturday, 10am-6pm. EUGENE, booksigning at the Authors & Artists Fair in the glass-roofed Atrium in the middle of the Lane County Fairgrounds, next to Holiday Market. Open to the public. Free.
April 21, 2009, Tuesday, 7pm. LAKE OSWEGO, slide show on "Oregon's Greatest Natural Disasters" at the Lake Oswego Public Library. Open to the public. Free.
April 22, 2009, Wednesday, 7pm. PORTLAND, slide show on "New Hikes on the Oregon Coast" at the Mazamas Mountaineering Center at 43rd and Stark Streets in East Portland. Open to the public. Free.
If your group would be interested in arranging a slide show or booksigning, contact Bill at (541) 683-6837 or sullivan@efn.org
Browse a catalog of Sullivan's books, read samples, and place orders.
Bill has written a monthly "Oregon Trails" column for Eugene's Register-Guard since 2000. He wrote a monthly outdoor column for Eugene Weekly from 1992 to 2000. The R-G column appears on the Outdoors page, usually on the third Tuesday of each month. To check out the R-G's latest issue, visit the Register-Guard website. The columns typically include a map and a color photograph. Meanwhile, here is the text of a recent column -- without the map, but with a spiffy color picture.
Fog on Mt. June
Recent Register-Guard article:
Skiing
by William L. Sullivan
Only a few snowshoers and Nordic
skiers attempt the spectacular three-day ski tour around
Most of these diehard
adventurers are confronting a mid-life crisis.
Well, at least some. After
talking with several other
The trek cannot be taken
lightly. Once you set out around the unplowed, 33-mile
Of course you can also sample
Rangers lead free one-mile
snowshoe tours to the rim at
For a day trip on your own,
start by driving the plowed road up to
This is the spot where John
Hillman and a group of gold prospectors "discovered" the lake in 1853.
To be sure, Indians had known about the lake for millennia, but they considered
it such a dangerous and spiritual place that they hadn't told pioneer settlers
about it.
These days,
If you're serious about tackling
the 33-mile ski trip around the rim, rangers suggest going in March or early
April. By then the worst winter storms have passed and the days are longer.
Heeding that advice, our
mid-life crisis support team drove to
You're required to pick up a
backcountry permit in person. That gives the rangers a chance to read you a long
and frightening list of winter warnings. Avalanches may be rare in
Before letting us go the ranger
checked that we'd brought avalanche beacons, probe poles, and snow shovels. We'd
be ready to dig out anyone who happened to get buried along the way.
Finally we drove up to
We set off, staggering under the
weight of 50-pound backpacks. After nine miles, the tracks we had been following
suddenly ended. The previous skiers must have turned back.
We pressed on, breaking trail
through deep snow. The farther we went, the more arduous this task seemed. We
might as well have been wading uphill through wet cement.
Finally, as stars began to
twinkle over the lake's dark eye, we set up our tents on a bare patch of
pavement in the middle of the road. Then we collapsed into our sleeping bags,
exhausted.
The next morning we were feeling
cocky about our progress -- not bad for middle-aged guys -- when a wiry,
white-haired gentleman with a tiny day pack skied up the road. He looked to be
at least 70 years old. We hailed him, assuming he must have camped behind us.
The man shook his head.
"No, no. Not camping at all. I left the
We were still staring after him
when an elderly woman approached. "Did my husband come through here?"
she asked.
All that day we followed this
pair's tracks, in awe. Long herringbone-shaped marks proved they had skated up
hills using a high-speed skiing technique that demands Olympian stamina. Where
the sun had melted gaps in downhill slopes they had skied across pumice rather
than stop to walk.
Trudging behind these superhuman
seniors, we felt very young indeed. And for a while I wished we too had left our
heavy packs behind.
But I changed my mind the second
night. A huge moon lit the snowy forests with an eerie, false dawn. We'd briefly
left our camp for a quick
He explained that he was a
German exchange student at
Now he felt as if the wilderness
had swallowed him whole. All day he had seen no other skiers and no trace of
civilization. He was out of food. His feet were blistered. Each step in his
stiff alpine boots had become an agony. Nothing he had seen in the
"How much farther is it to
my car?" he asked.
"About six hours," I
told him. "You'd better stay with us."
The young German student cut me
short with a shake of his head. "No. I'm not stopping now." And he
skied grimly on, tracing the moonlit rim above the starry lake.
The next day we saw from his
tracks that he had cut across avalanche-prone slopes in the dark. He'd been
lucky his immaturity hadn't cost him his life.
"Perhaps middle age is not
so bad after all," I mused, unlacing my ski boots when we reached the van.
One of the others asked,
"Then you're ready for the surprise party with black balloons and gag gifts
of Depends?"
I sighed. "Let's talk about
where we'll ski next year."