Excerpt from The Last Speaker of Bear: My Encounters in the North, collection of vignettes of a life spent traveling in the north from Alaska and Canada to Siberia, Greenland, Iceland, and Norway. Millman spent four decades since on some thirty-five expeditions in search of undeveloped landscapes, wildlife, and traditional cultures.
Author Archives: Terra Firma
Overlook by Suzanne Stryk
I cruised east on Route 64, stopping at the Rockfish Gap Overlook, where a dozen cars pointed toward the panorama. Walking over to a silver Dodge Avenger, I asked the suntanned driver if I could collect bugs stuck to the grill of his car. “Huh? You want to do what?” he winced. “Collect dead insects.”Continue reading “Overlook by Suzanne Stryk”
Straddling the Divide
By Matt Hart The biggest bighorn I ever saw was an old ram patrolling the side of State Highway 38 between Red River and Questa, New Mexico. My friend, who was driving, knew the windy canyon road and said we might see sheep near the site of Chevron’s abandoned molybdenum mine. A highway department signContinue reading “Straddling the Divide”
Begin Again
by Sandra Alcosser Because of open woodlandWith quivering sun patches A bird’s eye might observe a wormChiseling under earth’s Skin—because of granite bouldersFull of egg cases holding Spiderlings—because of purple berriesCome sweet in July—chokecherry Shadblow NankingHips and haws ripening— Branch nesters build summer nurseriesOn the face of our cabin—the same family Every year or theirContinue reading “Begin Again”
Two Nations Together Again at Boquillas
by Joe Holley Boquillas Crossing—On a cold, gray afternoon in Big Bend National Park, the rugged peaks and buttes wreathed by graceful low-hanging clouds, thirty or so American tourists are slouched against walls or sitting cross-legged on the hard floor of a small building manned by the National Park Service. We’ve all spent a portionContinue reading “Two Nations Together Again at Boquillas”
Each One a Bright Light by Lee Herrick
I was born outside of you, in Korea, in 1970, a year of upheaval and revolution. I was adopted and arrived in America in October 1971, at ten months of age, on your west coast, the San Francisco International Airport to be exact, where I was adopted by a White American couple. In the yearContinue reading “Each One a Bright Light by Lee Herrick”
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”
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