Jim Pickering first came to Estes Park in the late 1940s when he stayed at a cabin on Twin Sisters Mountain in the Tahosa Valley not far from Longs Peak Inn.  Now a a long-time summer resident, he teaches English at the University of Houston, where he has also served as dean, provost and president.  That first summer on the Twins initiated a life-long love affair with the history of Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Colorado, which he has now celebrated in some 17 books, including the ones shown here.This Blue Hollow: Estes Park, The Early Years, 1859-1915 (University Press of Colorado, 1999) was the winner of a Colorado Endowment for the Humanities Publication Prize and was a Finalist for the Colorado Book Award.  Its sequel, America's Switzerland: Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, The Growth Years (UPC), appeared in 2005.