Dodging Iguanas: An Author Event With Denny Kaill

Saturday shoppers and visitors have a chance on Saturday, September 30, 2:00—4:00 pm to chat with local author, Denny Kaill as he officially launches his recently published memoir, Dodging Iguanas: Some Motorcycle Stories, Some Not—All True at Griffin Bay Bookstore, 155 Spring Street in Friday Harbor. You’ll get to hear first-hand about his many adventures working and meandering around the world. His book is also peppered with his lively drawings that draw the reader in.

Denny Kaill begins his memoir with drive to New York City from Berkeley, because after attending a couple of colleges and a design school, “that’s what you do—in my case in an odd little French car.” Kaill landed a job in Caracas a few years after his road trip. “It sounded like an adventure to me, so I went,” he said. His book recounts his many adventures—some foreign, some domestic. His book is chock-full of stories about motorcycle adventures, one from Venezuela to San Francisco. His stories go back and forth in time—from corporate weirdness to his first motorbike at 17, to the avoidance of one war five years later and the proximity of a second war 27 years after that—Kaill arrived in the UAE just as Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. He often abandons one career for another, ensuring many different adventures. His book offers glimpses of the history of the places he’s been; there’s a little humor along the way; he lets you in on the anxiety he felt at times, but he’s clear about the pleasure adventurers and travelers find when strangers become friends. His line drawings are sprinkled throughout the book, giving the reader a first-hand look at what he found enchanting wherever he was.

About the Author: Denny Kaill graduated from High School at 17 when an opportunity to ship out in the Merchant Marine appeared. That’s when he says his real education began. He’s made his way through Central America, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, and Europe. He returned to attend college a few years later; after graduation he worked in Seattle, San Francisco, NYC, Caracas, and Abu Dhabi. Kaill is also adept with tools and has built his own house.

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