Book excerpt: Originally published in 1907, Alfred Castner King's unique and beautiful The Passing of the Storm survives as his most enduring work. A rare example of epic verse, it sends its readers deep into the heart of the ruggedly wild world of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, blending together the pivotal events of that tumultuous era with an ageless tale of brotherly courage and love. Even before his accidental blinding midway through life, it was King's passion to forever memorialize the natural splendor and simple majesty of the American frontier and its humble working class. But it was his continual struggle to come to terms with his late tragedy that gives much of his collected Other Poems their unique and intensely captivating voice. The Passing of the Storm and Other Poems takes readers on a journey through the mind of King as he explores his mournful love of nature and a world now gone, bringing them back to life as he could only do through words. "Alfred Castner King had been a lover of nature, a man of the mountains and forests who had embraced the beauty of the natural world with his heart and soul. His poems were written after an accident left him blind. I have read his poems over the years and, at times, have been overwhelmed by the beauty of his words. King's poetry possesses a spirit that reaches through time and beyond the darkness that shrouded the man."