David Gessner Bio:

David Gessner is the author of six books of literary nonfiction, including Sick of Nature, Soaring with Fidel, and Return of the Osprey, which was chosen as one of the top ten nonfiction books of the year 2001 by The Boston Globe. His essay “Those Who Teach, Write” appeared in the college issue of The New York Times Magazine in September 2008, and other essays have appeared in Best American Nonrequired Reading, The Pushcart Prize anthology, NPR’s This I Believe, The Georgia Review, and The Harvard Review. He is a contributing editor to OnEarth magazine, the journal of the National Resource Defense Council, where he has contributed cover stories and features, and his book reviews have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, Washington Post Book World, and the Los Angeles Times. Gessner taught Environmental Writing as a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer at Harvard, and is currently a Professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he also edits the literary journal of place, Ecotone. His Youtube video “Skiing the Beach” has been seen by over 12,000 viewers and he now devotes much of his energy to blogging on his website, “Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour” -- billanddavescocktailhour.com/

About The Monti:

The Monti is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that invites people from the community to tell personal stories without the use of notes. It’s just simple storytelling. Each month, events are held around the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area and as far away as Greensboro. The goal is to create an intimate, open, and fun atmosphere where people can relate their personal experiences to one another through narrative. themonti.org/