For author Louise Erdrich the painted islands west of Lake Superior in Lake of the Woods are book-islands to be read. Her grandfather was the last person in her family to speak Anishinaabemowin with any fluency. So she tried to acquire what she had not...
A few weeks ago, White-Throated Sparrows called from the woods near the mouth of Glover Archbold Park in Washington, DC, joining resident cardinals and wrens. Now Wood Thrush songs ring through the forest. I'd never seen this reclusive bird so close before, but its song...
Catching Up on April - My visit to Kenyon College and the Kenyon Review earlier this month was a true gift. I met amazing students, gave a reading/talk to a generous audience, and shared the bill (science writing symposium) with Andrea Wulf. Wonderful faculty and...
Yesterday, President Obama designated Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, honoring those citizens who faced violence and repression (including the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963) in the then ultra-segregated city to win rights every citizen should be accorded. The Civil Rights Act of...
The last two autumn readings for Trace took me across country to the Pacific Northwest. My first stop was at the amazing Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, thanks to Rick Simonson, then an event to Powell's City of Books in Portland. It was a...
Thank you, Justin Desmangles. I didn’t expect this. To be in the company of writers of such beautiful and powerful words is a gift; to be chosen and celebrated by the founders and board members of the Before Columbus Foundation on its 40th anniversary is a...
One lesson I learned as a small child was this: the American land did not hate. People did. These were the late 1960s, when riots ignited cities across the nation. These were years when journeys with my parents introduced me to national parklands. Yellowstone. Grand Teton....
Last night Terry Tempest Williams gave me the honor of asking me to share her reading event with her. Terry is on tour with The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks for this centennial of the National Park Service. With gracious...
The openness and maturity of First Lady Michelle Obama's speech last week at the DNC National Convention stand in stark contrast to ignorant dismissive responses by certain pundits. But the truth remains. The White House, United States Capitol, and the nation's capital as Washington, District...
It's a great honor to be asked by editor Stephen Trimble & publisher Kirsten Johanna Allen to join three generations of voices speaking on behalf of Utah's wild lands and against a dangerous congressional bill (the Public Lands Initiative) in RED ROCK TESTIMONY: THREE GENERATIONS...