Former first responder author talk is Jan. 20 at Lewiston library

LEWISTON – Author Robin Behl will be the guest of Lewiston Public Library at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20.
Behl, a former physician assistant at Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute, will read from her new book, “Price Per Barrel: The Human Cost of Extraction.” The talk is free and open to the public at the library, 200 Lisbon St.
The book is part travelogue, part mental health journey, in which Behl recognizes the human stories from the repeated cycle of boom and bust that has shaped movement across North America for the last 400 years. The book shows how first responders refuse to abandon their posts even when their towns are changing around them. They rise above their job descriptions, often putting aside their own PTSD.
Behl grew up in southeastern New Mexico, where she was a volunteer firefighter, then trained as a firefighter and EMT while in college. She spent 13 years in emergency services around the country, becoming a paramedic and dispatcher. She earned a master’s degree in medicine at the University of New England and was a physician assistant in cardiovascular medicine for seven years. She now works in documentary filmmaking and writing.
For information, call 207-513-3135 or email LPLReference@lewistonmaine.gov.