Revolutionary Women: Nahui Olin
Nahui Olin (b. Mexico City, Mexico, 1893; d. Mexico City, 1978), an artist and writer, used hertalent in the 1920s to express her intellect and her sexuality and to break down genderbarriers at a time when Mexican women were severely constrained by law and social custom. Apainter and photographer who organized her own shows, OlinContinue reading “Revolutionary Women: Nahui Olin”
La Finca Caribe
We learn that most people are reluctant to break down these barriers on their own, especially on their first night, and sometimes for days, or all of their stay; but at the same time, they are really grateful to be gently ushered into it by our efforts. People want to connect. This knowledge comes inContinue reading “La Finca Caribe”
Elephants: We Hardly Knew Them, a Conversation with Dale Peterson
Dale Peterson has spent his career writing about subjects ranging from art and literature to computers to psychiatry to travel, including penning the biography Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man. When it came to elephants, Peterson decided the history, strength, intelligence, and dominance of the world’s largest land animal were better explored in wordsContinue reading “Elephants: We Hardly Knew Them, a Conversation with Dale Peterson”
Best Animal Books of 2020
When I’m getting to know someone, a common icebreaker is the question, what’s your favorite animal? Everyone, even the meanest and grumpiest person, has a favorite. We find aspects of these nonhuman creatures enjoyable or intolerable, relatable and lovable. Being curious about animals is part of being human. Here’s a list of some of theContinue reading “Best Animal Books of 2020”
Write-Ins for President by Leath Tonino
I elect that bull elk in the Snake River. I elect that raven in Canyonlands National Park. I elect autumn moonlight on metal roofs. I elect the strand of barbed wire that fell from the post and is now woven into the tall brown grass. I elect the tall brown grass. I elect my neighbors’Continue reading “Write-Ins for President by Leath Tonino”
We Tell Stories
Disasters bring home this truth: we live in place. Precise locations that can flood, burn, shake, and slide (and if you live in Southern California as I do, all four are possible, imminent). Wildfires, for example, can incinerate large swaths of forests, chaparral, or grassland, but their individual burn patterns are site- and vegetation-specific. EarthquakesContinue reading “We Tell Stories”
What-a-Bunch of Creatives
Texans have a lot in common. We love wide open spaces. Bluebonnets. The Spurs. And if you can brag about calling the Lone Star State home, you definitely have a love for Whataburger, which has restaurants all over Texas and the South. People around these parts are as passionate about the fast food chain asContinue reading “What-a-Bunch of Creatives”
Still Birding While Black
Hey America, Was out birding a while back, black as I am and have always been, checking out my white-crowned sparrow honey hole, absorbing one of my fave winter birds. Fully engrossed in their melancholy leftover Northwoods songs and snazzy namesake stripe-headed plumages, I wasn’t expecting to have my identity challenged as I was identifyingContinue reading “Still Birding While Black”
Kurt Caswell’s Plea for Walking
My book, Getting to Grey Owl: Journeys on Four Continents, is a collection of travel essays that celebrate a wandering life. While I love being at home, travel is one of my central tenets. When I was a boy, my father’s work with the U.S. Forest Service took our family from one place to anotherContinue reading “Kurt Caswell’s Plea for Walking”
Greetings from San Antonio
Celebrated Texas historian Lewis Fisher has been collecting San Antonio postcards for more than 20 years; his assortment of colorful cards is currently in upwards of 7,000. Taken individually, each shows a different side of the River City beginning in the 1890s, but as a collection they offer a compelling visual narrative of San AntonioContinue reading “Greetings from San Antonio”
Walking in a Pandemic
I walk. A lot. I’ve always done so but now with a different kind of energy, an unsettling drive. Restless. Clocking more miles due to the quarantine, its prohibitions have altered some of my normal routes through Claremont, this college town on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County. No longer possible are morning treksContinue reading “Walking in a Pandemic”
What To Read During a Pandemic
Though it should, it does not dismay me that former students have been e-mailing me to say they are reading (or, for a very, very few) re-reading Defoe’s A JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR or Camus’ THE PLAGUE. I have grown accustomed to students making unusual choices. Nevertheless, others have asked me for reading suggestionsContinue reading “What To Read During a Pandemic”
ABOUT
Terra Firma is a stage for exploring the relationships between humans and the physical environments they engage. From publishing to a vibrant education and event programs, we work to contribute to meaningful dialogue, advocacy, and conservation focused on; nature, landscape, and wilderness; environmental sustainability and climate change; animals and wildlife; architecture and the built environment; cultural heritage and the importance of place.
