They carried malaria tablets, love letters, 28-pound mine detectors, dope, illustrated bibles, each other. And if they made it home alive, they carried unrelenting images of a nightmarish war that history is only beginning to absorb. Since its first publication, The Things They Carried has become an unparalleled Vietnam testament, a classic work of American literature, and a profound study of men at war that illuminates the capacity, and the limits, of the human heart and soul.

Join us for a very special One Book Steamboat evening with Mike Forney, a seasoned library adult storytime reader and one of the Yampa Valley's finest voices, who will be reading aloud Tim O'Brien's poignant signature short story from the novel of the same name, "The Things They Carried."

About the reader
Mike Forney grew up in the 1940’s across the street from the Carnegie Library in Livingston, Montana.   A voracious reader even then, he spent countless hours poring over the WWII flying adventures of Dave Dawson and the detecting exploits of Frank and Joe Hardy – the famed “Hardy Boys.” Mike still consumes more than 100 books a year, mixing mysteries and spy thrillers with biographies, true life adventures and stories about how things work.  He also loves audio books that allow “reading” in a multi-tasking environment like driving, exercising and yard work.

Mike spent eight years as a professional broadcaster in the 50s and 60s. He left the field in 1965 to pursue a career in public relations and advertising and later formed his own commercial mortgage banking company in the New York metropolitan area. Bitten by the acting bug in high school, he began doing serious amateur theater with several community theater groups in New Jersey in the 70’s playing leading roles in productions like “Man For All Seasons,” “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” and his first (and last) singing role in “1776.” He and his wife Janet moved permanently to Steamboat Springs in 2003 where Mike now provides small business counseling through his company Management Dynamics and Janet trains her own dressage horses while working part time at the library.

Run time: 50 min.