Keen Communications, LLC., is a book publishing and packaging company created in 2007 through the merger of Menasha Ridge Press in Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

, and Clerisy Press in Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

.

The principal owners are Bob Selinger and Richard Hunt

Richard Hunt

Richard Hunt may refer to:* Richard Hunt , Canadian carver and artist* Richard Hunt , one of the founders of Green Anarchist and Alternative Green* Richard Hunt , Canadian pianist and composer...

, along with several private investor

Investor

An investor is a party that makes an investment into one or more categories of assets --- equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, derivatives such as put and call options, etc...

s.

Keen Communications publishes books in the areas of outdoor recreation

Outdoor recreation

Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity is leisure pursuits engaged in outside, especially in natural or semi-natural settings out of town...

, travel

Travel

Travel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...

, sports, health and fitness, nature

Nature

Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...

, and business

Business

A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

. The books are how-to and where-to information for participants, retailers, and manufacturers in these areas.

Keen Communications is made up of three book imprints.

Menasha Ridge Press

Menasha Ridge Press—located in Birmingham, Alabama—is a book publisher and packager for the outdoor recreation and travel industries. Founded by Bob Sehlinger in 1982, Menasha Ridge is an independent book publisher covering the outdoors, wilderness

Wilderness

Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...

 sport, wildlife

Wildlife

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....

, cooking

Cooking

Cooking is the process of preparing food by use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training...

, history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, adventure

Adventure

An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...

, dining, and travel worldwide. Artists whose work has been published by Menasha Ridge are Colin Angus

Colin Angus

Colin Angus may refer to:* Colin Angus , Canadian explorer* Colin Angus , member of the British electronic music group The Shamen...

, Richard Bangs, Tao Berman, Jon Bowermaster

Jon Bowermaster

Jon Bowermaster— is a noted oceans expert, award-winning journalist, author, filmmaker, adventurer and six-time grantee of the National Geographic Expeditions Council.-Background/Education:...

, M. J. Eberhart, Johnny Molloy, William Nealy, Andre Skurka, Buck Tilton, and others.

Menasha Ridge also packages "Unofficial Guides" series for Wiley Publishing.

Clerisy Press

Clerisy Press—located in Cincinnati, Ohio—is a book publisher in the areas of sports, sports medicine

Sports medicine

Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness, treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise...

, health

Health

Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

, fitness

Fitness

Fitness may relate to:* Physical fitness, a general state of good health, usually as a result of exercise and nutrition * Cardiorespiratory fitness...

, nutrition

Nutrition

Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....

, business, and travel. It was founded in 2006 by Richard Hunt. Clerisy’s first book published was Crosley, by Rusty McClure, Michael A. Banks

Michael A. Banks

Michael A. Banks is a science fiction writer and editor. He is perhaps best known for nonfiction works about the genre and collaborations with Mack Reynolds. Banks has several other novels to his credit, Michael A. Banks (born 1951) is a science fiction writer and editor. He is perhaps best...

, and David Stern

David Stern

David Joel Stern is the commissioner of the National Basketball Association. He started with the Association in 1966 as an outside counsel, joined the NBA in 1978 as General Counsel, and became the league's Executive Vice President in 1980. He became Commissioner in 1984 succeeding Larry O'Brien...

.

Other Clerisy Press authors include former Olympic marathoner Julie Isphording

Julie Isphording

Mary Julie Isphording is a retired female long-distance runner from the United States. She competed for her native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. There she did not reach the finish...

 and founder of the Eureka! Ranch Doug Hall

Doug Hall

Doug Hall is an author and inventor. He is known for his "Jump Start" book series, as well as for his appearance on the ABC television series American Inventor....

.

Wilderness Press

Keen Communications acquired Wilderness Press

Wilderness Press

Wilderness Press is publisher of outdoor guidebooks and maps founded in 1967. Its headquarters are located in Birmingham, Alabama. Its first publication was Sierra North, considered the authoritative guidebook for hikers and backpackers in the Northern Sierra Nevada...

 in April 2008. When Tom Winnett published Sierra North in 1967, no other trail guide like it existed for the backcountry: detailed, mile-by-mile descriptions written by authors who walked every mile of trail. Thus heralded the beginning of Wilderness Press, based in Berkeley, CA

Berkeley, California

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...

. Since then, Wilderness Press has expanded its boundaries to cover all of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, the Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

 and Southwest, New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and surprisingly, some of the major US cities.

Today, Wilderness Press continues to publish and distribute some of the highest quality outdoor books and maps in the industry. Besides “where-to” guides for hikers

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

, climbers

Climbing

Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...

, paddlers, snowshoers, skiers

Skiing

Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....

, and surfers

Surfing

Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...

, our “how-to” subjects include kayaking

Kayaking

Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...

 safety, rock climbing

Rock climbing

Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...

, backpacking, outdoor cuisine, navigation

Navigation

Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...

 with GPS, and getting your kids outside.Throughout the years, Wilderness Press has partnered with a number of non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

s to bring out high-quality guidebooks and maps. Some of these groups include: Bay Area Ridge Trail Council, East Bay Regional Park District

East Bay Regional Park District

The East Bay Regional Park District is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area...

, Friends of the Los Angeles River, Grand Canyon Association

Grand Canyon Association

The Grand Canyon Association is the American National Park Service's official non-profit partner raising private funds to benefit the Grand Canyon National Park...

, Pacific Crest Trail Association, Rail-Trails Conservancy, Save Mount Diablo, Tahoe Rim Trail Association, The Anza-Borrego Foundation & Institute.