Belle Isle Writers Series: Dean King

History, mystery and fun! Join the Friends of Belle Isle State Park for a weekend of great stories, community and refreshments as we continue the Writers Series this fall. What could be better than spending an autumn afternoon along the shores of the Rappahannock River? Come early to explore the park. The program starts at 2:00 p.m. in the Visitor Center, the exhibits will be open for your enjoyment. The lecture will begin promptly at 2:30 p.m. followed by time with the author for questions and book signing. 

The program cost is $10 per person (payable by cash or check to the Friends of Belle Isle) and includes coffee, tea, and light refreshments. Space is limited; please call or email the park office to make a reservation at 804-462-5030 or email at BelleIsle@dcr.virginia.gov 

The weekend features two opportunities to hear from amazing authors:

Saturday - October 21, 2023 - Lonnie Lee

Sunday - October 22, 2023 - Dean King

Dean King - Virginia author Dean King is an award-winning author of ten nonfiction books. Dean relishes the adventures involved in making history come to life while at the same time diligently searching out the truth and turning up new historical detail. While researching his national bestseller Skeletons on the Zahara, he crossed the Sahara on camels and in Land Rovers. He trekked the Long March trail in the Snowy Mountains of Western China while researching Unbound and was shot at in Appalachia while writing The Feud. For his most recent book, Guardians of the Valley, Dean traveled to John Muir’s boyhood homes in Dunbar, Scotland, and rural Wisconsin and spent months roaming Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada.

The books that have resulted have been widely appreciated. The Daily Mail called Unbound, the story of the thirty women on Mao’s 4,000-mile Long March in 1934, “an astonishing and gripping tale of heroism and endurance.” The Wall Street Journal deemed The Feud “popular history the way it ought to be written,” and the Daily Telegraph called Dean’s groundbreaking biography Patrick O’Brian: A Life Revealed “a model of how these things should be: skeptical, generous and almost as well informed as the master himself.”

Dean’s writing has also appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Granta, Garden & Gun, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, Travel + Leisure, New York, the New York Times, and Virginia Living. He is a partner in Gum Street Productions, making documentary films.

Please join us to learn more about his life, books, travels, and amazing adventures.

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