Lake County Judge Larry Semento will sign copies of his recently published book Tears in the Wind: Triumph and Tragedy on America’s Highest Peak from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 at Barnes & Noble at Lake Sumter Landing.
Tears in the Wind is a memoir of Semento’s mountain climbing days, most specifically his climb up Denali in 1998 where he and his team made it to the summit only to have a team member killed during the descent. Denali, formerly called Mt. McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in America. The death of a team member caused a lot of publicity at the time and interest in this climb has lingered. Having kept a journal Semento attempted soon after to put it into book form. He would work on it periodically but didn’t see it coming together and he finally put it away all together.
About a year ago he pulled out his notes and began working on it in his spare time, he is a judge in the criminal felony court, he got it done.
“I think I needed that time for reflection and to put that difficult experience into perspective,” he said.
This book is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Amazon describes his book in part as a “riveting account of an expedition to climb Denali, a rare peek into a world often shrouded in glamor and mystery. More than a description of the climb, this is an introspective look at the physical and mental demands of climbing a high mountain, and it provides thoughtful insight on the impact that this amazing adventure had on Larry and his family and friends.”
Semento has published legal articles, including a recent article in the law review. This is his first book.