Thomas Branigan Memorial Library hosts author Lesley Poling-Kempes May 13 via Zoom

The Readers of the Purple Sage Book Club of the Branigan Library will host author Lesley Poling-Kempes.  via Zoom at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, May 13.

The event is free and open to the public. 

Poling-Kempes will speak about the body of her work, including “Bone Horses,” which won the Tony Hillerman award in 2013, and its sequel, “The Cloud Blower,” which has not yet been published.

“Bone Horses” is rich, complex family mystery.  The mystery is finally solved by the heartbroken loved ones of those who left too soon.  It is a densely layered New Mexico adventure featuring The Land of Enchantment as a living character in the tradition of fabled storytelling.

Poling-Kempes is a multiple award-winner for both scholarly nonfiction and contemporary fiction.

“For several decades, my primary work was as a writer/historian,” Poling-Kempes said on her website, www.lesleypoling-kempes.net. “For my first three books ("The Harvey Girls," "Valley of Shining Stone" and "Ghost Ranch"), I interviewed and talked with literally hundreds of old-timers all over the Southwest. I heard remarkable tales of the early days in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona.”

A native of Westchester County, New York, Poling-Kempes first visited Ghost Ranch on a family vacation in the 1960s.

Poling-Kempes’ book “Ladies of the Canyon: A League of Extraordinary Women and Their Adventures in the Southwest” was given the New Mexico Book Association’s Harris Award for outstanding contribution to the understanding of the Southwest’s people and cultures.

Poling-Kempes and co-author Robert N. Singer are nearing completion of “Gallup,” an historical novel set in World War II New Mexico.

To be added to the Zoom invite list for the May 13 presentation, send an email to sagelibrary@las-cruces.org with “Poling-Kempes” as the subject.

Visit www.lesleypoling-kempes.net.