Howdy! Wanted to drop a quick notice for any Helena folks reading, that I’ll be speaking downtown and signing books tonight. The event is sponsored by the Lewis and Clark Library as part of a series helping to promote diversity in honor of the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. day.

Here’s the official announcement from the L&C site -

East Helena native, author, photographer, and X Games medalist Kevin Connolly will be speaking at St Paul’s UMC (512 Logan) on Wednesday, January 12 at 7 PM in conjunction with celebrations of Martin Luther King Jr Day—MLK 2011. Kevin was recently featured in Outside magazine’s Survivors’ Guide issue. Kevin’s memoir, Double Take, recounts growing up in Montana without legs, competing in the X Games, and traveling the world on his skateboard.

Books will be available for purchase and book signing to follow.

I’d love to see the place packed as it’s been a long time since I’ve done anything in Helena. Hope to see you there!

As promised, here are the questions I wanted to ask of your class, but ran out of time. If you would like to answer these, great. But as I stated in class, the last thing I want to do shovel homework on you during finals week. I’ll leave it up to your teachers to decide if this should be mandatory or not. It was great meeting everyone, though, and hopefully I’ll we’ll see each other again sometime!

1.) How would your country respond socially to someone with a physical disability? Is there stigma associated?

2.) Is there a common assumption, or story, that is commonly associated with physical disability in your country? (i.e. “was it a shark attack?” “do you still wear your dog tags from Iraq?”) If so, what is it?

3.) Are adaptive sports and technology (i.e. monoskiing, wheelchair rugby, etc) well known in your country?

4.) How do you think “the Dirtbags” in chapter 6 helped to shape Kevin’s view of disability? Can you think of anyone similar in your life?

5.) Finally, since it’s sometimes easier to post questions in writing, is there anything that you wish you could have asked me in class?

For those who missed the article when it came out in print in this November’s issue of Outside, the article has just been posted online.

The full article can be found right here.

Here’s a small excerpt:

Daybreak cracks like a runny egg against Montana’s Spanish Peaks as the Cyborg steers his rig toward the slopes.

The Cyborg is thrilled. When his truck rounds a bend obscuring Big Sky’s Lone Peak, he leans toward the windshield. He wants to ski, sure, but by now you’ve spent enough time with the Cyborg to know there’s something else in that eagerness. He is looking forward to crushing you on the mountain today. This isn’t strictly because he has something to prove, though perhaps he does just a bit, the way any guy born without legs could reasonably be expected to have something to prove. What’s more true is that the Cyborg is all guy, and—let’s face it—the favorite pastime of twenty-something guys is gutting the confidence of the other members of the pack. Today the rest of the pack is you.

Go check it out!

Because I’m going to be seeing all of you very soon! I’m currently in Glenwood Springs hanging out at my hotel, and getting ready for the event in Rifle tonight! Between the classroom visits; skateboard sessions around campus; and speaking engagements; it looks like it’s going to be a pretty busy week!

An article in the Glenwood Springs Post Independent has already come out, and it’s actually a pretty funny read…

If author and adventurer Kevin Michael Connolly were an ordinary 25-year-old, he would describe himself with ordinary words such as adaptable, curious and stubborn.

But Montana-born and -reared Connolly is an extra-ordinary young man, so he pauses thoughtfully, with a chuckle, to describe himself as “lowbrow, callused, hairy, manic, masochistic and relatively eloquent despite my best efforts.”

Here’s the link to the full article if you’d like to read a bit more.

Here are some extra details about my visit to Colorado Mountain College:

More information on the Colorado Mountain College Common Reader program and the author’s talks Nov. 1-5 can be found on the Web at www.coloradomtn.edu/communities_friends/common_reader.

Or call the college at 800-621-8559.

A photo and writing contest with the Double Take theme, invites entries that explore the idea of seeing the world from a different perspective. Find out more.

Kevin Michael Connolly will give author’s talks at the following locations:

Nov. 1: Colorado Mountain College in Rifle, 7 p.m.

Nov. 2: Colorado Mountain College in Aspen, 10 a.m.

Nov. 2: Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs-Spring Valley, gymnasium, 7 p.m.

Nov. 3: Colorado Mountain College in Breckenridge, 7 p.m.

Nov. 4: Bud Werner Memorial Library Hall in Steamboat Springs, 7 p.m.

Nov. 5: Vail Christian High School in Edwards, 7 p.m.

Ever since I took my first few turns on a ski hill, I dreamed of getting into Outside Magazine. While I’ve been incredibly happy and grateful for all of the press that has been sent my way in the past few years, Outside was always my own sort of “holy grail” for publicity. I would’ve been happy with a little blurb in a page margin – so to be the feature of a 2800 profile has thrown me onto my proverbial heels a bit.

I’d love to post the whole article online, but I’m sure that’d get me in hot water with the Outside powers-that-be. However, if you’re keen to pick up a physical copy – here’s the cover that you’ll be looking for (it’s the November issue) -

A few high points:

1.) I get a nickname that I truly hope sticks (The Cyborg)

2.) The title for the next photo project is revealed (Low Lifes)

3.) The article discusses the Cheetah Legs – excuse me, Connollegs - at length.

4.) I get quoted as saying (for better or worse): “Now’s a pretty rad time not to have legs.”

So we’re getting close. Next month will kick off the main set of events for the “One Book – One Bozeman” program, and after having seen the schedule, I can definitely tell you that it will be a busy month. I’ll be attending most of the events, so if you’re interested in either the book, me, or social settings – here is the official schedule:

If you would like to see a more comprehensive layout of the schedule, as well as learn a little bit more about the program, head over to the official OBOB website.

Keep checking back here, because this blog is definitely going to be picking up in the next couple weeks. Tonight, I have an interview airing on Yellowstone Public Radio at 7pm. I’ll be posting the interview on here this week, but if you want to catch it live, hit the link.

Next week I’ll be posting some reading questions that I created in conjunction with some of the One Book – One Bozeman people. I’ll only post a few up each day, and I would encourage any readers to discuss their thoughts. I’ll even be jumping into the fray, so hopefully we can get some good online discussion going.

Alright, back soon!

A bit on how to play the game:

It is a 2D platformer, inspired in part by Super Metroid, where you must explore a large world, collect powerups and find secrets. The game’s hook comes from the fact that the main character, Jack (READ: Kevin), has no legs. As such, you cannot walk, run, jump or do most things you would want to do in a typical platformer. Instead, the game is entirely controlled with the mouse: you move around by grabbing and dragging yourself forward. As you explore the world, you gain new abilities that give you new moves, such as the ability to launch yourself into the air or to pick up and throw boulders.

Everything in the game can be done with the mouse. If you are worried about wearing out your left mouse button, Z, X and spacebar all perform the same function as the left mouse button.

Pressing R while in-game will reload your last saved game. Pressing S will mute/un-mute sounds and music. Pressing M will open the map, assuming you have a map.

I’m really feeling speechless on this one. I’ll leave it to you to comment…

If you’d like a full-screen version of the game – go here.

If you’d like to learn more about the developers or the game itself, head over here.

Otherwise, hit the jump to play the game right here…

This is definitely the coolest present I’ve ever received from a fan. A gal named JuJu contacted me on facebook a couple of weeks ago from South Korea after having read my book. Having not yet seen the final published product, I was surprised to hear that I even had a fan on the other side of the world – much less one reading my book in a different language. After a bit of pleading and begging, JuJu was generous enough to send me a copy of the book  to look at, and it’s been a very surreal experience flipping through the pages of a very different version of my work. Seeing some of the definitions they had to provide for some of my more colloquial words (think “dirtbag” or “49er’s), I have to wonder how the book as a whole came across in the translation.

Also, if you would like a Korean copy of your own, look no further!

More photos to check out after the jump…

Seeing my bio in a foreign language did make me go all warm and fuzzy inside...

Title page

Table of contents. Notice the boy from the cover...

I really want to know how "dirtbag" was defined...

Chapter openers in full color

]]> http://kevinmichaelconnolly.com/2010/08/the-korean-edition/feed/ 1 http://kevinmichaelconnolly.com/2010/07/by-popular-demand/ http://kevinmichaelconnolly.com/2010/07/by-popular-demand/#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:54:34 +0000 Kevin Connolly http://kevinmichaelconnolly.com/?p=484 Howdy everyone -

So in the few weeks since my NPR interview aired with Scott Simon, I’ve received quite a few requests to post it online. So if you missed the interview, or just need to let my dulcet tones soothe your afternoon – you’re in luck!

So we’re a couple weeks out from the official release of the paperback version of Double Take, and my publishers have given me the go-ahead to throw a preview up on my blog. I received my first copy on Friday, and I gotta say – it looks pretty cool. Very, very surreal seeing myself on the cover, though. What do you think of the new design?

Hit the jump for the full spread.