Ian Mackay & Karen Polinsky — 'Ian's Ride: A Long-Distance Journey to Joy'

Third Place Books is delighted to welcome outdoors accessibility advocate Ian Mackay and author Karen Polinsky to our Lake Forest Park store for a presentation of Karen's new book .

This event is co-sponsored by the North Cascades Institute, a nonprofit conservation organization working to inspire environmental stewardship through transformative learning experiences in nature. Learn more at ncascades.org.

This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!

While studying as a biology undergrad at UC Santa Cruz, Ian Mackay crashed his bike into a tree on campus. Paralyzed from the shoulders down, Mackay adapted to his new life with the help of his dedicated family, particularly his mother, Teena Woodward, and a group of quirky friends. After years of despair, and against all odds, he became an inspiring leader, an innovator with Apple, and a world-record-breaking athlete. In this intimate biography based on more than one hundred hours of interviews, journal entries, and more, writer Karen Polinsky recounts Ian’s accident and determined recovery, in which he discovered the healing power of nature and community.

Ian’s Ride is both a personal journey and an adventure quest for nature lovers, endurance athletes, and anyone struggling with a life-changing loss or diagnosis. This deeply moving true story examines how we exist in our bodies, adapt to and overcome adversity, and what it means to push our limits.

Karen Polinsky, a former journalist and high school teacher, is a novelist and playwright. Like Ian’s Ride, her first book, Dungeness, is set on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Polinsky has written more than a dozen staged plays. Based in Portland, Oregon, she enjoys camping, biking, and hiking with her husband, Michael, and her border collie, Pearl.

Ian Mackay, a C2/3 quadriplegic, is a nature lover, mobility technology innovator, and endurance athlete. Mackay is the executive director of the nonprofit Ian’s Ride, which aims to increase accessibility to the outdoors; an ambassador for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy; and a proud board member of The Here and Now Project, a chapter of the United Spinal Association. He lives in Port Angeles, Washington.

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.

Also check out other Arts events in Lake Forest Park, Literary Art events in Lake Forest Park, Trips & Adventurous Activities in Lake Forest Park.