curtismanleyauthor.bsky.social

@curtismanleyauthor.bsky.social

I write fiction and nonfiction books for young readers, with topics ranging from nature, science, and technology to art, haiku, and poetry.

CHASING ERUPTIONS is filled with volcanoes, young students learning to be scientists, travels around the world, volcanoes, hazards, danger, terrible disasters, survival stories, and volcanoes. Did I mention volcanoes? October 10th, 10-4 at the Redmond Senior & Community Center, Redmond, WA!

BildBildBild

On June 15, 1991, Mt. Pinatubo erupted. Volcanic ash collapsed roofs. Ash flows burned forests and filled valleys. Mudflows washed away houses and bridges. But the death toll was limited because 250,000 people agreed to evacuate after watching the hazards video by Maurice and Katia Krafft.

Bild

On this date, the 3rd of June, 35 years ago, volcanologists and filmmakers Maurice and Katia Krafft died in an ash flow from Mount Unzen in Japan. But shortly before that, they had set in motion something that—just a few days later—saved at least 60,000 lives. CHASING ERUPTIONS tells their story.

Bild

Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980. The Kraffts visited two months later. They hired a helicopter and pilot and flew over what had been forests but now looked like combed hair— the huge fir trees knocked over, all the tree trunks pointing away from the mountain. Art: Katherine Roy.

Bild