Sierra Club Meeting: River of Contrasts – Colorado River with Margie Crisp

River of Contrasts: The Texas Colorado with author and illustrator Margie Crisp at Scholz Garten, 7 p.m.

From its beginning at the edge of the High Plains of Texas, near Lubbock, the Colorado River flows some 800 miles through twenty counties to meet the Gulf of Mexico at Matagorda Bay. On its way, it fills nine lakes and reservoirs to supply water and electricity to vast areas of Texas. Over 1.1 million people in Central Texas alone depend on the Colorado River’s water for drinking, irrigation, electricity, and industry. Crisp’s book interweaves the complex stories of the River’s past with the present and future using personal narrative and interviews with land owners and river people to link local history and lore, natural history, geology and current issues.

Margie lives in Elgin with her husband. Her artwork can be found in numerous public and private collections. Twenty-plus examples of her hand-colored linocuts, lithographs and silkscreen prints featuring the Colorado river’s natural residents will be on exhibit at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center January 12 through early March. www.coloradorivertx.com Margie’s presentation will be a photo-essay (including some art) of the Colorado River from its headwaters to the Gulf. “Using the book and my experiences, I tell stories about the people I met as well as history and current issues along the river.” Books and T-shirts will be available for purchase.