Emeritus professor collaborates on conservationist’s life story

Emeritus professor collaborates on conservationist’s life story

May 14, 2021 LA GRANDE, Ore. – Amid the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, author Brock Evans and Eastern Oregon University professor emeritus George Venn teamed up to publish Evans’ autobiography. 

Initially having met at a conference in the late 1970s and again 30-some years later, Evans knew Venn would be the right match to start sifting through boxes of his life’s work to create his autobiography. 

“Here’s a guy who’s been publishing his whole life, but it’s never been organized, it’s never been edited,” Venn said. “So I told him, ‘This is like a pile of lumber, Brock, but it’s not yet a house that anyone can walk into.’”

Together, they created a coffee table book titled, “Endless Pressure, Endlessly Applied” that was published by Wake Robin Press last year.

Evans’ devotion to wildlife conservation and restoration are showcased throughout the work. Broken into three parts, the book covers everything from high school sweethearts to being arrested for protesting deforestation. In fact, Brock is partly responsible for saving areas in northeast Oregon that are used for outdoor recreation by EOU staff, faculty and students alike. He also received national awards and a lifetime of appointments in theSierra Club, Audubon Society and Endangered Species Coalition.

A copy of the book was gifted to the EOU Outdoor Adventure Program, which organizes trips and classes that get on-campus students engaged in the local landscape. 

Two academic programs align with themes of the autobiography, the undergraduate Sustainable Rural Systems degree, and the new Wilderness, Ecology, and Community concentration in the Creative Writing MFA program. Students in these programs work closely with land conservation and restoration.

Evans’ book offers an example of how to stand up and fight for what you believe in, defending land, and learning to navigate through the world of writing, Venn said. 

Learn more about EOU academic programs at eou.edu/academics.