Gary Noy, author of nonfiction books that include “Hellacious California” and “Nature’s Mountain Mansion,” will discuss his latest offering about Lake Tahoe as part of the Sierra College Patrons Speaker Series on Thursday, October 23.

A Rocklin researcher who grew up in Nevada County, Noy is one of the premier historians writing today about the California Gold Rush and the tectonic events that subsequently followed it. He latest book, “Gem of the Sierra: Schemes and Splendor in 19th Century Lake Tahoe,” was release in 2024.

Noy’s talk at Sierra College will cover Tahoe’s Native American culture, as well as how the Comstock Lode Silver Rush, changing population trends, evolving water policy and the boom-and-bust logging industry, all collectively shaped life around the lake as we know it today. The presentation includes a number of historical photographs and images of Lake Tahoe. The discussion will even encapsulate some of the mythology and literary reverberations that have come from the lake.

Noy will be available for book signings after the talk.    

The talk run from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Sierra College’s Rocklin campus inside the first floor of the Library and Learning Resources Center. Specifically, it will be in that building’s boardroom, LR133. Doors open at 6 p.m. Admission is $5 for the general public, and free to students.

The Sierra College Patrons is an organization that supports arts and cultural programs throughout the Sierra Community College District.