A new memoir by Robin Behl, a native of Hobbs, NM, recently hit bookstands around the country. Behl will be stopping by the Lea County Museum’s Lister Building in downtown Lovington for a free book signing event this Friday.
The event will take place on November 5 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at 114 E Central Ave.
Behl currently resides in New Hampshire, but is looking forward to catching up with old friends from the area during her visit. She has spent 21 years working in medical care as a first responder and later as a physician assistant. Her work has given her a unique perspective into the traumas and dangers working class people face on a regular basis in our society.
First responders and the like often face a great deal of stress dealing with life or death situations on a regular basis and seeing the worst horrors mankind has to offer. In order to deal with this stress, Behl turned to the open road, visiting all 50 states and every province of Canada. In her new memoir, Price Per Barrel: The Human Cost of Extraction, Behl shares stories and revelations from her travels and from her time working on the frontlines of human trauma.
Whether it’s the gold for our coffers, the copper for our cell phones, the oil that powers our lives, or our quest for the Moon, we come together en-masse to dig for it, drill for it, and race for it. In each of those impacted communities, there are men and women in blue shirts and steel-toed boots, in white coats and stethoscopes, in guns and badges, who sacrifice their energy, their hairlines, and their sanity to care for their neighbors. Price Per Barrel takes a no-holds-barred look at what a population boom can do to a town and to the people who care about it most.
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Lea County is well-known for its oil & gas industry, and in fact Behl will be signing books near the Oil & Gas Exhibit in the Lea County Museum. Though the industry is responsible for much of the area’s livelihood, Lea County has been a constant victim of its boom and bust cycle with the poorest often suffering the most during the hard times.
However, these struggles aren’t unique to oil & gas. As Behl has seen, working people across the country, and even the world, experience a great deal of sacrifice on a routine basis to keep the economy moving. Much of their sacrifice and hard work is taken for granted by the consumers that buy the goods and enjoy the life provided by their labor.
In addition to signing books, Behl will also be answering questions and sharing her perspective with those in attendance.
Price per Barrel is published by North Dakota State University Press. For more information about the upcoming event, call the Lea County Museum at 575-396-4805.
