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Start giftingThe Last Empty Places
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Learn morePart travel adventure, part history, part exploration
In The Last Empty Places, bestselling author Peter Stark takes the listener to four of the most remote, wild, and unpopulated areas of the United States outside of Alaska, and mainly not part of protected wilderness: the rivers and forests of Northern Maine; the rugged, unpopulated region of Western Pennsylvania, that lies only a short distance from the East's big cities; the haunting canyons of Central New Mexico; and the vast, arid basins of Southeast Oregon.
Stark discovers that the places he visits are only "blank" in terms of a lack of recorded history. In fact, each place holds layers of history, meaning, and intrinsic value and is far from being blank. He also finds that each region has played an important role in shaping our American idea of wilderness through the influential "natural philosophers" who visited these places and wrote about their experiences—Henry David Thoreau, William Bartram, John Muir, and Aldo Leopold. It's a fascinating look at the value of nature, the ways humans use and approach it, and what it means to seek out empty places in today's world.
Peter Stark is a historian and adventure writer. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Astoria, along with The Last Empty Spaces, Last Breath, and At the Mercy of the River. He is a correspondent for Outside magazine, has written for Smithsonian and the New Yorker, and is a National Magazine Award nominee. He lives in Montana, with his wife and children.
Jay Aaseng is an Audie Award-winning narrator and voice artist from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, who can be heard in dozens of audiobooks, animated projects, and national commercials. Jay enjoys bringing his classical theater and sketch/improv background to a variety of genres and is known for his regular, down-to-earth style. His wide range has given him the opportunity to voice a variety of characters, from wisecracking detectives and hard-partying rock stars to happy-go-lucky dogs and evil ventriloquist dummies.