Linfield College will host winemaker Susan Sokol Blosser and writer Brian Doyle as they present readings from their books describing the behind-the-scenes workings of winemaking. The event, part of the Readings at the Nick series, will be held Thursday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Austin Reading Room in the Jereld R. Nicholson Library at Linfield.
Sokol Blosser and Doyle will take turns reading and discussing their work and the wine industry. Sokol Blosser will read from “At Home in the Vineyard: Cultivating a Winery, an Industry, and a Life.” Doyle will accompany her with “The Grail,” his work from trailing Willamette Valley winemakers in pursuit of the perfect pinot noir grapes.
Sokol Blosser graduated from Stanford, and purchased land in Dundee for a vineyard in 1970. By 1971 she planted the first vines, producing the first vintage by 1977. Sokol Blosser vineyards and wine have won numerous awards and are recognized for producing high-quality, organic vintages. They gained special respect for producing the elusive pinot noir grapes. Sokol Blosser is now running for state representative.
Doyle is the editor of Portland Magazine at the University of Portland. He is the author of nine books, five collections of essays, two nonfiction books and two collections of “proems,” a preface to other writing. His works have received various honors including a Catholic Book Award, two Pushcart Prizes and a 2008 Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
The reading, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by Nicholson Library, Third Street Books and McMinnville Public Library. For more information, contact Susan Barnes Whyte, 503-883-2517, swhyte@linfield.edu.
