Kara Richardson Whitely will be at Labyrinth Books on Wednesday, August 9^, at 6 p.m. to discuss her book, Gorge: My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds (Seal Press $17), as part of the Library Live at Labyrinth Series.

Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, says “In Gorge, Kara Richardson Whitely takes us where few have dared to go before: thrillingly up to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro and profoundly down to the darkest depths of food addiction. Kara is fearlessly honest and powerfully intelligent. I was moved and inspired by every page of this beautiful book.”

According to the New York Times, “This detailed account of [Kara Richardson Whitely’s] travails will give confidence not only to hesitant would-be mountaineers but to those, like her, whose biggest hurdle is ‘to learn to be O.K. with who I was.’

Kara Richardson Whitely has hiked Mount Kilimanjaro three times while weighing as much as 300 pounds. She finished Gorge while working with Cheryl Strayed in the French Alps. Kara, who is also a motivational public speaker, has written for Self, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and Runner’s World magazines. She was recently featured on Oprah’s Lifeclass, was one of Outside magazine’s 127 Defining Moments finalists, and has been written about in Redbook and American Hiker magazine. She lives in Summit, New Jersey, with her husband, Chris, and two daughters.

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