About the Event

In 1955, the deadliest tornado in Kansas history hit the small town of Udall. Nearly 70 years later, the relevance of this catastrophic event has not faded. Author Jim Minick demonstrates the connection between history and our world in his chronicling of the event in his latest book Without Warning, showing us that, whether or not we have directly experienced a tornado, we are a people defined by weather and the events that unfold in our changing climate. Join us at the Raven Book Store on May 24 at 7 p.m. for a conversation between Minick and Raven Science and Nature specialist Kelly Barth as they discuss climate change, survival, and how our communities can continue to persist through the challenges of the future.

About the Speakers

Jim Minick is the author or editor of seven books, including the award-winning Fire Is Your Water and The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Poets and Writers, Oxford American, Orion, and Shenandoah.

Kelly Barth has worked at the Raven since 1997. She loves reading soft science and nature books, mysteries, and literary fiction.

About the Book

In 1955 the small town of Udall, Kansas, was home to oil field workers, homemakers, and teenagers looking ahead to their futures. But on the night of May 25, an F5 tornado struck their town without warning. In three minutes the tornado destroyed most of the buildings, including the new high school. It toppled the water tower. It lifted a pickup truck, stripped off its cab, and hung the frame in a tree. By the time the tornado moved on, it had killed 82 people and injured 270 others, more than half the town’s population of roughly 600 people. It remains the deadliest tornado in the history of Kansas.

Jim Minick’s nonfiction account, Without Warning, tells the human story of this disaster, moment by moment, from the perspectives of those who survived. His spellbinding narrative connects this history to our world today. Minick demonstrates that even if we have never experienced a tornado, we are still a people shaped and defined by weather and the events that unfold in our changing climate. Through the tragedy and hope found in this story of destruction, Without Warning tells a larger story of community, survival, and how we might find our way through the challenges of the future.