SECRETS of the DIAMOND HUNTERS

 

            KEVIN KRAJICK, prizewinning journalist and author of the book BARREN LANDS, will give a free slide show/talk, The Secret Hunt for North American Diamonds at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2003, 7:30 pm.

            BARREN LANDS is the story of two small-time prospectors who opened Canada’s wild arctic by making one of history’s biggest diamond strikes, in 1998. Krajick will show how this pivotal economic and environmental event grew from 450 years of furtive diamond-hunting in every corner of the United States and Canada. Among other topics: early European explorers; diamond finds, frenzies and hoaxes in 19th-century Appalachia and the Wild West; and modern companies including De Beers, still secretly combing the continent for gems. Of regional interest: rocks resembling diamond ore in Pennsylvania coal mines; diamond rushes in Syracuse and Ithaca, N.Y., and theories that glaciers may have carried loose gems here from the Far North. Along the way, Krajick— contributor to magazines including National Geographic, Science and Newsweek--examines the ultra-secret science of diamond-hunting, and the cutthroat competition between small-timers and De Beers. He concludes with a look at the ongoing multibillion-dollar strike on the Canadian tundra, or Barren Lands.  The presentation includes compelling historical images, contemporary photos of the north, and actual American diamonds, and diamond ore. The author will sign copies of his book.

      BARREN LANDS is the basis of the Discovery Channel documentary “Diamonds in the Rough,” airing Feb. 14, 2003, at 10 pm. Smithsonian magazine calls the book “gripping” and “eloquent”; the Toronto Globe and Mail, “superb.” Says The Economist: “Mr. Krajick, a talented storyteller, strikes it rich.”

 

WHO: Kevin Krajick, prizewinning journalist and author of the book BARREN LANDS: An Epic Search for Diamonds in the North American Arctic. (Henry Holt & Co., November 2001; Owl paperback, October 2002)

 

WHAT:  Free illustrated talk: “The Secret Hunt for North American Diamonds”

 

WHEN:  Thursday, Feb. 13, 2003, 7:30 pm

 

WHERE:  Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 8480 Hagy’s Mill Rd., Philadelphia, Pa. Sponsored by the Philadelphia Mineralogical Society and the Philadelphia Geological Society.

 

 

Text Box:      Further information: Call 215-482-8158
      For photos or to arrange an interview with KEVIN KRAJICK: 212-666-4824/    krk4@columbia.edu. 
     To read an excerpt: WWW.BARRENLANDS.COM