BY KAREN BOSSICK

Keith Catalano Wilson is one of those Blaine County residents with two homes—one in Hailey; the other, beachfront property on Bristol Bay, Alaska.

His boxy blue cabin in the tundra outside of Naknek is the home base for his commercial salmon fishing operation, its access to the beach over a crooked boardwalk.

He greets the day with a cup of French press coffee, even as he swats the mosquitoes that attempt to devour him as he pulls on chest waders, PFDs, rain jacket and rubber gloves. And then he and his brother-in-law Daniel wade to a 21-foot aluminum Pacific skiff to see what the tide brings in the way of sockeye salmon.

Wilson has written a memoir, “A Road Out of Naknek: Alaskan Salmon Fishing, Long-Distance Running and Life According to the Tide.” And he will present a reading and discuss his adventures at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, in Hailey Town Center West.

“I’ll be sharing lessons from the past 30 years of commercial fishing, using my book as a starting point to open deeper discussions on life, wild salmon and the wisdom offered by the tides,” said Wilson. 

Wilson grew up in Naknek, a remote commercial salmon-fishing town in southwest Alaska. He began running to deal with a feeling of isolation and restlessness.

As an adult, he left Naknek, moving from place to place, job to job and adventure to adventure, teaching for a spell at Wood River High School while coaching the cross-country running team.

But he continues to return to Naknek every summer for the commercial fishing season. 

Books will be available for purchase and signing after the presentation.