Want to give something to that green-leaning person on your shopping list, or just looking for some great ways to care for the Earth and its inhabitants?
Check out these titles from The Durable Human reading list: Continue reading
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Poem Describes a Durable Human
As some readers of this blog may know, I am also writing a book called The Durable Human. It’s not easy to explain what it means to be “durable.” So I was thunderstruck when I heard Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac read this love poem by Sharon Dunn:
Genes
My eleven year old son wants to fish,
he owns two rods, one saltwater,
one freshwater. He loves knives,
Bowie knives, Swiss Army
knives, “Knives like this one?”
my brother says, opening his desk
drawer and taking out a small
jackknife with antler handle.
My boy camps outdoors, begs to sleep
outside, is always shooting
arrows, rubber band guns,
he is lashing together a fort
in the backyard. He sails,
swims, kayaks and wants
to know the stars.
The outdoor hunting genes
are in the dark men in my family.
Yet I believe he is a son of light.
His joy in reading, cooking
and piano are fanned
from the tinderbox
of his father’s heart.
He will save rainforest,
he will grow vegetables,
keep horses, fly his own plane.
He will make his own brave life,
he will not remake our lives
nor redeem us, nor pity us.
[From Refugees in the Garden: A Memoir in Poems. © The Rose Press, 2009] Continue reading
Helping Women get Comfortable with Cycling
Riding my bike to a meeting the other day, I suddenly realized how happy I felt. Being so close to nature was wonderful, amid crimson cardinals darting through the underbrush and the sound of rushing creeks, but there was more to it than that. I had an exhilarating sense of freedom.
Apparently, that’s not a new feeling for women who bike. In fact, we have enjoyed that special kind of autonomy since the late 1800s, when the bicycle was introduced in America. As suffragette Susan B. Anthony put it, having the ability to ride away from the protective atmosphere of the home “changed women.” Continue reading
Toward an Author Bill of Rights
One of my most useful souvenirs is from the gift shop at Alcatraz—the notorious, now-closed penitentiary perched on a rocky island off the coast of San Francisco. The utilitarian black coffee mug is printed with these white letters:
REGULATION 5:
YOU ARE ENTITLED TO FOOD, CLOTHING, SHELTER, AND MEDICAL ATTENTION.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU GET IS A PRIVILEGE.
Marching orders issued at Book2Camp
When I used the mug last week, it reminded me of Book²Camp, the “un-conference” I had just attended in New York.
“Book Squared” is an informal, no-cost gathering of writers, book producers and publishers. The group sets the agenda, so any attendee can suggest a topic as long as he or she is willing to lead the discussion. Continue reading
