Award-winning journalist to give book talk in Fort Collins

Abby Currie

September 1, 2017

Michael Kodas has embarked on journeys across the world, from a 22,494-foot peak in Nepal to minefields in Vietnam, over the last two decades.

Kodas, an award-winning photographer, reporter and author, is giving a book talk to introduce his latest non-fiction book, “Megafire: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame.” The talk is on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. at Old Firehouse Books.

In 1999, Kodas and a team of journalists received the Pulitzer prize for breaking news coverage at The Hartford Courant. Kodas worked at The Courant as a photographer, picture editor and writer, from 1987-2008, according to Kodas’s website.

Kodas’s work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Denver Post. Kodas received the USA Book News Best Non-Fiction Award in October of 2008 for “High Crimes,” his best-selling book, according to his website.

The New York Times interviewed Kodas about the book.

According to the article, Kodas said “base camp today is a lawless village, complete with thievery, extortion, prostitution and occasional violence.”

Kodas’s career does not stop with reporting – he also teaches the young and upcoming journalists of the world, according Kodas’s website. Kodas currently works as the deputy director of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Previously, Kodas has taught at other universities and at some high schools. According to his website, Kodas has helped students across the country “achieve their goals as journalists, photographers, videographers and storytellers.”

Kodas also speaks across the country at schools, corporations, churches, galleries and non-profit organizations. Kodas gives multimedia presentations about the destinations he has traveled to as both a photographer and as a reporter. For example, one of Kodas’s presentations is about his experience at Mount Everest.

Firefighting is the subject of Kodas’s new book, “Megafire.” According to an article from National Public Radio, published in 2013, Kodas has been documenting firefighting for more than a decade.

In the article, NPR asked Kodas to briefly explain the global increase of wildfires.

“The United States is not the only nation that’s experienced a surge of wildfire. A day before the tragedy in Arizona, I returned from Greece, which has also had a huge increase in wildfire in recent decades. Israel, Australia, Russia, Spain and Portugal have also had a big increase in fires, and scientists predict even more as the climate in many parts of the globe dries and warms,” Kodas said in the NPR interview.

Collegian reporter Abby Currie can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @abcchic15.

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