Chattermarks

If you know anything about Gary Snyder, then you can understand why we here at North Cascades Institute are incredibly excited about his forthcoming visit to Seattle on May 27. Strands of Snyder are interwoven in to the Institute, our mission, our staff and our North Cascades Environmental Learning Center, and his poetry and worldview have an almost totemic presence in our work.  The 50 years of poetry, interviews and essays that Snyder has produced has educated, inspired and illuminated many of us in many different ways. Some of us came out west after reading one of his books on the mountains and trails of our region. Others have been impacted by his writing about community, culture, watersheds, ecology and sustainability — concepts he was exploring decades before they became influential buzzwords in our society. I know of people that have become fire lookouts or trail workers, poets or environmental educators, Buddhists or off-the-grid pioneers in part because of the example Snyder set in both his lifestyle and his writing.

Has Gary Snyder likewise inspired or informed you in some way? Has a particular poem crystalized some thought or feeling for you? Did one of his essays change the way you look at the world ? Which of his writings have impacted you and why?

We’re curious and hope you’ll share your Snyder story with us. Everybody who responds to this post with a germaine comment will be eligible to receive a free copy of Snyder’s book Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems, a compendium of mountain poetry that is turning 50 years old this year. I’ll give folks a week to respond and then randomly pick three lucky winners, announcing them in the comments early next week.

» Continue reading Gary Snyder and “Riprap” book give-away

Though we haven’t coerced him in to a Sourdough Speaker Series presentation — we’re working on it! — Skagit Valley scribe Tom Robbins is definitely a part of the cultural history of our region. His first novel Another Roadside Attraction, published way back in 1971 and today a certifiable cult classic, was set in the Skagit Valley, and the La Conner-dwelling author recently penned the Foreword for Skagit Land Trust’s book Natural Skagit.

Robbins will be reading from his latest book “B is for Beer” in Bellingham at, appropriately enough, Boundary Bay Brewery on May 7. It is a testament to his popularity in this region that the event was sold-out months in advance. In lieu of getting to experience Tom Robbins in person, I’d like to suggest you purchase a copy of my recently-published ‘zine featuring the story “Tom Robbins Incognito: Tracking the Pacific Northwest’s Elusive Literary Outlaw” from the website MagCloud. It features a semi-serious, semi-farcical quest around western Washington in search of Robbins, from La Conner to Seattle’s Blue Moon Tavern, and it concludes with an exclusive enlightening interview with the reclusive novelist.

» Continue reading “Tom Robbins Incognito”