Woodstock author writes guide, hosts party

By Erick Mertz

The Bee, Nov 27, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

New Woodstock resident, and author of a new guidebook on Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Nina Lary provides photographic proof that her research for the new guide was NOT just limited to library work!

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With a neighborhood name like Woodstock, a strong connection to the arts isn’t much of a stretch. Still, literary events and openings are rare enough that when a local author hosts a book release party, it counts as a cultural event.

A rustic late-summer party off of Ramona Street welcomed local writer, Nina Lary, into the rich local literary tradition. Her book, “Jackson Hole: A Comprehensive Guide to Jackson and the Grand Tetons”, from the Tourist Town Guides series, was unveiled there, and curious Woodstock residents got their hand on a promising young writer’s debut.

“It seemed to fit the book,” Lary said of her rustic party.

“Jackson Hole” is another in a series of books that has featured such tourist staples as Key West, Florida, Niagara Falls, Gatlinburg, and the Wisconsin Dells.

A local freelancer, Lary found the book proposal through a free-lance website, and before she knew it, was off to Wyoming to put the project into motion.

Overall, Lary spent a month in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, researching the guidebook by doing everything from paragliding to whitewater rafting to sampling the local restaurant fare.

While the town and area surrounding Jackson Hole offers an opportunity for abundant natural wonders, Lary says her favorite part of her research involved the city and its rapidly changing history.

“I’d love to go back,” she says with a smile. “There’s so much there.”

Just writing the book itself was a valuable experience for her she says, but publishing also offered her much to learn, as so much more of the process falls on the author. Her triumph over the process is part of what led to the Woodstock party.

What comes next for the local author is as wide open as was her first subject. A sense of adventure seems inherent in Nina Lary, though. Her next project is likely to be something reflecting that flair for wanderlust.

In the meantime, this book has been so successful for her that it is already in its second printing.