PORT TOWNSEND — The finale of the month-long Community Read will be Thursday when Leif Whittaker, author of the memoir “My Old Man and the Mountain,” will speak.

Readers can meet the author at a special program from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the auditorium at Port Townsend High School, 1500 Van Ness St.

The book was this year’s selection for the Port Townsend Library Community Read, an annual event in which everyone is encouraged to read and discuss the same book.

Whittaker’s non-fiction narrative traces his life with his adventurous mother, Dianne Roberts, brother Joss, and his dad, mountaineering legend Jim Whittaker, the first American to summit Mount Everest.

On Thursday, after an introduction by his father, Leif Whittaker will discuss his book and read selected passages.

A book signing will follow.

Also, Northwind Arts Center, 701 Water St., is displaying a juried show, “Courage to Climb,” with selected works inspired by Whittaker’s book until April 1.

For more about Community Read, see http://www.ptpubliclibrary.org/.