John W. Lundin is a lawyer, historian and award-winning author, who after a career practicing law in Washington D.C. and Seattle as a trial attorney in federal court, turned to researching and writing about Washington and Idaho history. He is a founding member of the Washington State Ski and Snowboard Museum (WSSSM) and works with the National Nordic Museum in Seattle and the Center for Regional History at The Community Library in Ketchum, Idaho.
Here is a link to the slides that John used in his presentation.
John is a Seattle native; a long-time skier, rower, sailor, and outdoorsman; and splits his time between Seattle and Sun Valley, Idaho. He is the author of four books: Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass, a history of skiing in Washington, published 2017; Sun Valley, Ketchum and the Wood River Valley, a pictorial history of Idaho’s Wood River Valley, published in June 2020; Skiing Sun Valley: a History from Union Pacific to the Holdings, the definitive history of our first destination ski resort that introduced skiing to the country, published in November 2020; and Ski Jumping in Washington State: a Nordic Tradition, published in February 2021, was the companion to an 2021 exhibit on ski jumping sponsored by the National Nordic Museum and WSSSM that John helped develop.
John is contributing his author’s profits from Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass to the WSSSM; from his two Sun Valley books to the Center for Regional History; and from Ski Jumping in Washington State to the WSSSM and National Nordic Museum.
In 2018, Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass received a Skade award the International Ski History Association as outstanding work on ski history. Skade is the Norse goddess associated with bowhunting, skiing, winter, and mountains. In 2021, Sun Valley, Ketchum and the Wood River Valley received a Skade honorable mention.
In 2021, Skiing Sun Valley: a History from Union Pacific to the Holdings, won three prestigious national book awards:
A Skade award from the International Ski History Association (ISHA);
the Harold S. Hirsch Award for Excellence in Snowsports Journalism (cowinner), given by the North American Sports Journalists’ Association (NASJA) to the best winter sports publication every three years; and
the Western Ski Heritage prize awarded by the Far West Ski Association, in recognition of the best effort in the prior 2 years that communicates the contributions of snowsports to the community at large.
The International Ski History Association said the following when Skiing Sun Valley received its Skade Award.
“There have been many attempts to tell the story of Sun Valley, but this book does so with a thoroughness and flair that this iconic resort deserves. With over 150 photographs and the benefits of extensive research, this book unfolds a history that dazzles with tales of celebrities…and icons of American skiing…Here is the storied past of a one of a kind place in a book that does its heritage justice.”
Dick Dorworth’s review of Skiing Sun Valley in Ski History Magazine was titled “A Must Read for Sun Valley Fans.”
“Skiing Sun Valley is a deeply re-searched, scholarly book about the connections between the Sun Valley of today and the people, places, cultures, economics, wars, inventions, wilderness, ecology, risks, and personal relationships in the 19th and 20th centuries that made it what it will be in the 21st. Every aspect of the story is accompanied by an abundance of photos that on their own are worth the price of the book. Every person with a connection to and love for Sun Valley will be better informed, inspired and wiser after reading it.”
John has written essays on Washington history that have been published on Historylink.org (the on-line encyclopedia of Washington history), and on the Central Washington University’s website, (Works by Local Authors, https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/local_authors/). His essays on Idaho and Wood River Valley history are available at the Center for Regional History. John has written articles that have appeared in a number of magazines and journals, including Skiing History, Nordic Kultur, Idaho Magazine, and Ancient Skiers newsletters; the Mountains to Sound Greenway Blog; the Far West Ski Association’s 90th Anniversary Publication; and websites including the Friends of Rowing History, International Ski Association, the Milwaukee Road Archives, and the Sahalie Ski Club.
John is a frequent lecturer in Seattle and the Wood River Valley, and has done a series of TV shows with Eye on Sun Valley on history topics. His Idaho lectures can be seen at https://www.slideshare.net/CommunityLibrary, and his TV shows at http://eyeonsunvalley.com.
email address: john@johnwlundin.com website www.johnwlundin.comn
Here is a video presentation that John used at The Community Library in Ketchum on March 17, 2022: “Early Sun Valley: Union Pacific, Averell Harriman and Alf Engen.”
Early Sun Valley: Union Pacific, Averell Harriman and Alf Engen with John Lundin on Vimeo
