The Boulder Junction Public Library presents local photographer and writer, Bob Kovar, on Thursday, August 31, 7 pm, at the Boulder Junction Community Center.  Bob will be discussing his book, Beneath the Eagle Tree.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bob Kovar set out to try and shed a little light and, at times some levity, into the world by sharing a daily post on his Facebook feed that possessed enough good vibes to make anyone smile. A longtime photographer of the natural world, Bob had been taking images of his beloved Northwoods his entire life. Learning to write with wit and positivity in the throes of a pandemic was, however, an entirely new experience. Over time, Bob was able to reconnect the positive pathways from heart to pen, or in this case keyboard, as he tapped out stories and shared images from his early morning walks down to the Trout River to watch the sun rise from under the big pines on the point where the eagles have nested as long as anyone can remember.

Whether sitting there in below zero temperatures or swarmed with hangry mosquitoes, Bob learned that you had to be in “The Great Out There”, where inspiration was sure to find you. Under the tree in front of beautiful sunrises and accompanied by the wild things that floated or loped by, he found he could write about anything that brought him joy and felt compelled to share it with others.

His postings gathered many followers across several social media platforms with many asking him to “please write a book!” He was happy to oblige and set out to piece a book together of these postings in December of 2021. He has compiled his writings and images from this period of time into his first book, which is titled Beneath The Eagle Tree.

The book includes a foreword by noted author and naturalist, John Bates, and was edited by John’s very talented daughter Callie Bates, an accomplished author in her own right. The book was self-published by Trout River Press in August 2022 and is available from the author’s website: www.bobkovar.com.

Bobs connections to the Manitowish Waters area run long and deep. Bob’s grandparents bought 33 acres of land on Rest Lake in Manitowish Waters, WI in 1933 and where he spent every summer until he moved here permanently in 1980. He married the love of his life, a local girl from a wonderfully huge and loving family, and they raised their family in a house they built on their property on Wild Rice Lake in 1988.

Bob managed a cranberry marsh for 22 years and then decided he needed to get more involved in his community. He was instrumental in starting the North Lakeland Discovery Center, an environmental awareness center, out of which he started and ran the Intercultural Leadership Initiative, a program that brought Native and non-Native children together across the Lakeland region that build friendships and empowered youth to end racism amongst themselves and in their communities.

He also was instrumental in establishing and was a founding member of the North Lakeland Education Foundation, Northwoods Restorative Justice, The Tribal AmeriCorps Program, the Zaagiibagaa Healing to Wellness Court, the HOPE Consortium, the Positive Action Coalition, The Wisconsin Native American Prevention Coalition, and the Tribal Behavioral Health Initiative. He is currently on the Board of Directors for the North Woods Art Tour and the Last Wilderness Alliance.

Bob “retired” from the lions’ share of this work in 2019 but continues to be a strong advocate for protecting and promoting the health and well-being of the region and all its inhabitants. He uses his time now to document the natural beauty that brings so many people to this unique area and the importance of protecting it through creative storytelling and writing. Bob’s growing body of work is housed in a little log studio he built beneath an eagle nest on their property on Wild Rice Lake in 2019 which is open to the public when he is not out in the great outdoors taking photos, paddling, cycling, birding, roller skiing, x-country skiing or exploring the deepest secrets in the deepest woods, telling stories, and playing with his two granddaughters

This event is free and open to the public. Bob will be selling and signing his books. Refreshments will be served. For questions and further information, please call the library at 715-385-2050 or email [email protected].