Bio
I live in a very remote area of the Pacific Northwest where we do not have telephones, not even cell phones! Don't worry, we’re not some kind of crazy isolationists, and I have not always lived such an insular life. I was born in Bogotá, Colombia where my mom was on a Fulbright scholarship and my dad was working on various social justice causes (and, as it turns out, running from the law, but that's another story, one that will — hopefully — become my next book). After that exotic start, I landed in the suburbs, in Riverside, California, sixty miles east of Los Angeles, the smoggiest city in the whole USA. A bookish kid who liked sports but knew nothing about the outdoors, I never camped until, as a teenager, I traveled to Oregon and — well, there's no other way to say it — I fell in love. I loved the green forests and the blue sky and even the rain, and I swore that, if I ever made it back, I'd never leave. And that's how it worked. Sort of. After college in Oregon, and a short stint at Canyonlands in Utah, I settled for an unsettled life, working each summer maintaining trails in the North Cascades, and moving every winter.
All this time I was writing. Between trail crew seasons, I returned to graduate school to earn a degree in creative writing at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. I started submitting my writing, and my work began to be published, first in small regional journals, then in bigger national magazines. About ten years ago, my partner, Laurie, and I were able to sink some roots. We bought land and built a cabin here in this tiny mountain town. The story of doing so became my first book.
These days I spend my time writing, editing, and teaching writing (in online classes and in a one-room school, a nice dichotomy). That is, nearly all of my time is spent fiddling with words…until, predictably, I begin to go nutty and I race back outside to split firewood or take a long hike. I’ve spent the last couple of summers learning to windsurf on the lake near my home. It's a difficult sport, requiring strength and balance and a fair bit of courage to be out there all alone in the middle of such a large cold lake, one that is both incredibly beautiful and capable, at any moment, of swallowing you whole. It is, in other words, yet another metaphor for writing.
Because of where I live, I sometimes can't escape the Nature Writer label. But I usually cringe. While, sure, I've been influenced by writers such as John McPhee, Wendell Berry, and Rick Bass, my favorite writers are those from anywhere — everywhere — with razor wits, incisive minds, and generous hearts. I read fiction and poetry. But my first love is nonfiction. I revere Joan Didion and James Baldwin. I follow Henrick Hertzberg in The New Yorker fanatically. And I devour humorists like David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell. |
About Stehekin
Stehekin is a remote community in the North Cascades in north-central Washington State accessible only by trail, boat, or float plane. We’re surrounded by North Cascades National Park and almost two million acres of federally designated Wilderness (Glacier Peak Wilderness Ares 576, 865 acres, Paysayten 520, 000 acres, Stephen Mather Wilderness 634,000 acres and Chelan/Sawtooth). About a hundred people live here year-round. We get several hundred-degree days each summer and an average of a hundred inches of snow each winter. We have no grocery stores, movie theaters, taverns or churches, but we do have an outstanding bakery, a must-stop for everybody, especially hikers that come through town each year on the Pacific Crest Trail. Come visit. If not for the scenery, for the cinnamon rolls.
Stehekin Links:
StehekinValley.com - provides information about lodging, transportation, activities and recreation in the Stehekin Valley.
North Cascades National Park - National Park Service information on North Cascades National Park, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, and Stehekin.
Barnhart Photography - Local photographers Nancy and Mike Barnhart, whose work is featured on this website capture the beauty of the place. They also offer a variety of workshops each year at Flick Creek House, including the ones I teach.
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