You’d be hard-pressed to find an author who has done more to drive awareness of Tucson’s rich agricultural history than Gary Nabhan. He was instrumental in getting the city designated the country’s first UNESCO City of Gastronomy, playing a key role in turning his knowledge of the organization’s Creative Cities network into a successful grant application.

Nabhan has devoted a lot of his research to desert plants, and the current issue of Imbibe magazine celebrates his latest book about the intersection of agaves and human culture as being “one of our favorite things.” 

The blurb reads: “A collaborative work between acclaimed ethnobotanist Gary Nabhan and pioneering restaurateur (and founder of the Tequila Interchange Project) David Suro Piñera, Agave Spirits: The Past Present and Future of Mezcals, is the result of the authors’ extensive fieldwork and on the ground interviews across eight Mexican states. The book (W.W. Norton, May 2023) offers a deep look at traditional mezcal production and insight into the new generation of makers finding ways to adapt and preserve the historic spirit.”

It’s no surprise, then, that Nabhan has been integral to popularizing Tucson’s Agave Heritage Festival (read our article Education with a Kick: The 2023 Agave Heritage Festival Goes Big).

This year he and David Suro will be participating by hosting a book signing and presentation at the Historic Train Depot on Sunday, April 30. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet the authors and buy copies of Agave Spirits, hot off the press. 

For more on Gary Nabhan, see garynabhan.com. For more information about the Agave Heritage Festival, visit agaveheritagefestival.com.

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