UKIAH, Calif. – Veterinarian/author Richard Perce will premiere his first novel, The High Country, on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. in Room 5310 at Mendocino College.

Perce, who is currently a veterinarian based out of Sonoma County, spent several years crafting the novel which is set in the “high country” of Colorado.

The Friends of the Mendocino College Library is sponsoring the event and will provide light refreshments following the event.

Perce will be on hand to answer additional questions and to sign copies of the new book.

The High Country follows Clay Williams, a 30-year-old racetrack veterinarian whose career ends suddenly and he finds himself in the high country of Steamboat Springs, Colo., in the 1970s.

What Clay finds is a cast of colorful characters from ranchers and Realtors, as well as plumbers and police, and he is transformed by both the clients and patients that inhabit Routt County. Filled with humor and emotion, Perce’s debut is impressive.

Dr. Richard Perce was raised in New Mexico and attended the University of Arizona before graduating from Colorado State University School of Veterinary Medicine.

He practiced in the “high country” for almost 20 years before moving to Northern California. He now resides with his wife, Chari, in the wine country where he maintains a full time equine practice.

Currently, Perce is working on his second novel, “Above Timberline.”

This reading launches the spring reading series that will precede LitFest on May 19 of this year.

For more information, contact the Mendocino College Library at 707-468-3051 or visit www.mendocino.edu.

The Friends of the Mendocino College are an affiliate group of the Mendocino College Foundation, and they are in their eighth year sponsoring literary activities at the college.