'Border Songs' author Jim Lynch to join Feb. 23 panel discussion about border issues

The Western Libraries will hold a panel discussion on the book "Border Songs" from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, in the Wilson Library Presentation Room.

The panel discussion about border issues in the Whatcom County community is sponsored by Whatcom READS!, Western Libraries and the Border Policy Research Institute at WWU.

Lynch studied English and creative writing at the University of Washington and went on to work for newspapers in Alaska and Washington, D.C., as well as The Spokesman-Review, The Seattle Times and The Oregonian.

As a reporter, Lynch spent time studying the western end of the U.S.-Canada border, that nonsensical line that tries to follow the 49th parallel from Minnesota to the Pacific. The two countries are often divided by nothing more than a drainage ditch or nothing at all. Lynch spent time along the border after 9/11 and saw what it was like on both sides after the U.S. Border Patrol tripled its forces.

The quiet farmlands have turned into a prime battlefront on the war on terror AND the war on drugs. He started to see provocative material and comic potential. Lynch also soon began inventing characters on both sides of the line, including a young, dyslexic 6-foot-8 Border Patrol agent obsessed with birds, and "Border Songs" took shape.

Joining Lynch will be panelists Greg Boos, a local immigration attorney recognized as an expert in U.S. immigration law and policy by U.S. federal and state courts as well as by various tribunals outside of the U.S.; Chief John Bates, currently the Blaine chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol; Rosalind Guillen, “Executive Director of Community to Community Development based in Bellingham, WA. Rosalind was a former Labor organizer for Cesar Chavez’s UFW and now part of the food sovereignty movement organizing for human rights in the food system and immigration reform; and Gene Davis, retired from the U.S. Border Patrol after serving for 30 years. 21 of those years were spent in the Blaine Sector as a Border Patrol Agent, Patrol Agent in Charge, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent, and as the Deputy Chief Patrol Agent.

Fee parking will be reserved in lot 14G, which is just up from the library on High Street.

For more information, contact Paul Piper at paul.piper@wwu.edu.