Nevada author joins lecture series

Monday, Oct. 7, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Novelist Frank Bergon was born in Ely but left Nevada for an academic career at Vassar College in New York. Still, his heart remains in the Great Basin.

Bergon is set to return to Las Vegas Oct. 18 as a featured speaker in the 19th annual Nevada Humanities Committee lecture series.

The event is set for 7:30 p.m. at the West Charleston Library, 6301 W. Charleston Blvd. Bergon will be available to sign books beginning at 5:30 p.m.

In his novels, Bergon uses contemporary Nevada settings to symbolize larger issues. For instance, the struggle to keep a high-level, radioactive waste dump out of Nevada takes center stage in a recent book, "The Temptations of St. Ed and Brother S." Bergon ties the issue to the search for a recovery of spiritual values in the nuclear age.

The plot centers on St. Ed's efforts to save his monastery. He finds himself in a struggle with the bishop of Reno-Las Vegas, who has been offered a good deal by the Bureau of Land Management to turn the sanctuary into the Shoshone Mountain project for storing nuclear waste.

Bergon even has a chance to highlight the decline of journalism ethics in the person of talk-show host Nathan Spock, who manipulates the issue at the expense of the truth.

Several of Bergon's other novels are rooted in Nevada history. "Shoshone Mike" captures the darker side of frontier justice in Nevada.

His most recent work, "Wild Game," is based on a character whose actions are similar to those associated with convicted killer Claude Dallas.

In addition to writing fiction, Bergon in 1987 edited "The Writings of John Burroughs," a New York nature writer, who, during a 60-year career, has written more than 300 nature essays.

In 1975 Bergon wrote "Stephen Crane's Artistry," a nonfiction work about the author of "The Red Badge of Courage."

Before visiting Las Vegas, Bergon will speak in Elko on Oct. 16 and Reno on Oct. 17.