Author Jon Turk. The Raven's Gift: A Scientist, A Shaman and Their Remarkable Journey Through the Siberian Wilderness

Join Jon Turk for an evening of self discovery. Jon will give an illustrated talk about his journey, a man of science traveling into the realm of the spiritual, as chronicled in his new book The Raven's Gift . Framed by high adventure and forbidding Siberian landscape, The Raven's Gift is a life-altering vision of the ties between the natural and spiritual realms. 

In a remote Siberian village, Turk met an elderly Koryak shaman named Moolynaut who invoked the help of a Spirit Raven to mend Turk's fractured pelvis. When the healing was complete, he was able to walk without pain. Turk, finding no rational explanation, sought understanding by traversing the frozen tundra where Moolynaut was born, camping with bands of reindeer herders, and recording stories of their lives and spirituality.

"Balancing between logic and magic, Turk attests to the innate powers of body, mind, and soul that are awakened when we immerse ourselves in Wild Nature." -Booklist

The program is free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be for sale and signing.



Jon Turk received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1971 but hounded by restless spirits, he kayaked across the North Pacific and around Cape Horn, mountain biked through the Gobi desert, made first climbing ascents of big walls on Baffin Island, and first ski descents in the Tien Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzia.  His two-year kayak passage across the North Pacific Rim was named by Paddler Magazine as one of the ten greatest sea kayaking expeditions of all times.  Jon has chronicled his adventures in three books:
Cold Oceans, In the Wake of the Jomon, and, most recently The Raven’s Gift.

Date: April 15, 2010
Time: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: Mayer Room