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CORVALLIS - The Oregon State University Press has published the first book by a University of Oregon author whose essays focus on people living in some of the most remote locations on Earth.

"A Gathering of Stones: Journeys to the Edges of a Changing World" is a collection of essays by Carol Ann Bassett, an assistant professor of journalism whose works previously have appeared in The New York Times, Time magazine, Mother Jones, The Nation and in anthologies of the best American nature writing.

The book draws on her wide-ranging travels, from the Canadian Arctic to the Bio-Bio River in southern Chile. Her essays look at how traditional peoples in these locations are constantly struggling to survive in a changing world.

Called "as much an inner journey as one to far-flung places," the OSU Press book reveals the wisdom and fears of people living close to the land - the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico's Copper Canyon, Basque sheepherders in the mountains of Arizona, the Basarwa or bushmen of the Kalahari, and the Mapuche Indians of southern Chile.

The book is available at local bookstores and libraries, or may be ordered directly by calling 1-800-426-3797.