The earth is our first teacher.
Everything we need to know
about
how to live in this world comes from the teachings of the earth.
Vi Hilbert, Upper Skagit elder, 2003
Monday, August 13, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Portfolio: Seattle Street Art
Graffiti found under Pike Place Market
These images were taken from street art found around Seattle's Pike Place Market in 2009.
Buy Adrift in the Sound online from Amazon.com
or order from independent booksellers.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Sacramento Style Magazine Author Showcase
Local Authors
Area Talent Hits Shelves
by Paris Ryan
August issue of Style magazine introduces emerging
Sacramento-area authors -- with new books to entertain, thrill, inform and
inspire, including a new cookbook by friends Joanne Neft and Laura Kenny, farmers
market advocates and chefs, out with The Art of Real Food. Thanks
to Style editor Paris Ryan for assembling such an impressive array of local
talent and including my new book Adrift in the Sound in the mix.
http://www.stylemg.com/Style/August-2012/Local-Authors/
Monday, July 30, 2012
Guide for Discussion Groups
Questions to Consider
1.
How are national events used to frame
the novel?
- What role do spiritual values play
in the characters’ lives?
- How does the environment shape the
story?
- Compared to 1973, where are we now
as a people and a nation? What has changed and what has remained the same?
- What do the Native American
characters and the other characters in the story have in common and what
makes them different?
- What role does the various civil
rights struggles—women, Native Americans, Chicano, gay—play in the novel?
- Discuss Lizette’s relationship with
Marian.
- Discuss Lizette’s relationship with
Rocket and with her father.
- What is important to Lizette’s
journey toward a greater sense of well-being?
- What does baby Violet represent in
the novel, actually and symbolically?
Monday, July 23, 2012
Adrift in the Sound Historical Events
Adrift in the Sound is set in Seattle and Puget Sound in 1973,
a tumultous time in America.
Notable Events*
1973
January
· The Marine
Mammal Protection Act, passed in October 1972, begins protection for all marine
mammals in U.S. waters in 1973, including orcas and seals.
· Roe v. Wade: The U.S. Supreme Court overturns state
bans on abortion, legalizing the procedure nationwide.
· U.S. involvement
in the Vietnam War officially ends
with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on January 27.
February
March
·
The
last U.S. soldier leaves Vietnam.
April
May
·
The
71-day standoff at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, ends between federal authorities
and American Indian Movement activists.
June
·
The
U.S. Congress passes the
Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA), ushering in rights for the disabled.
August
· Top-grossing
movie “American Graffiti” released.
September
· The Battle of the Sexes: Tennis
professional Billie Jean King defeats male
tennis pro Bobby Riggs, making a
statement about women’s equality.
· United Farm
Workers union opposes sanctions on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.
October
· U.S. Vice
President Spiro T. Agnew resigns and
then, in federal court pleads no contest to income tax evasion.
· The Arab Oil
Embargo against several countries that support Israel triggers the 1973 U.S. and global
energy crisis.
· Watergate
Scandal: “Saturday Night
Massacre” leads
to dismissal of Watergate Special
Prosecutor Archibald Cox,
raising
calls for President Nixon's impeachment.
November
· Congress
overrides President Nixon's veto of the War Powers
Resolution,
which limits presidential power to wage war without congressional approval.
· President Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law,
authorizing construction of the Alaska Pipeline.
· Watergate Scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President
Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing
editors "I am not a crook."
December
January
1970-1976:
In the late 1960s, millions of American teenagers left home and headed out on a grand hippie adventure. By the early 1970s, many of these young people—now in their early- to mid-20s— were beyond the reach of social programs for children. Many were strung out on alcohol and drugs, living on the streets, working as prostitutes, physically maimed, and/or suffering from mental illness. An untold number of them, including young women and, in some cases the children they bore, did not survive.
Karen M. Staller, author of Runaways: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped Today’s Practices and Policies (2006, Columbia University Press) writes that passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1971 lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. One result was that rules governing runaways, dropped to below age 18.
The severe U.S. economic recession of the era, followed by soaring inflation, halted new U.S. initiatives to expand medical care and other social programs, which likely could have helped the walking casualties of the late1960s. Midwives were not licensed to practice in Washington State until 1976.
Due to the winding down of the Vietnam War and the ongoing recession, the Seattle-based Boeing aerospace company cut its workforce from 80,400 to 37,200 between early 1970 and October 1971. By1973, unemployment in the Puget Sound area topped 17 percent (Seattle Times). Seattle suffered massive home foreclosures and severe urban blight. During the economic bust, a famous Seattle billboard asked: "Would the last person leaving SEATTLE — turn out the lights?"
Sources:
Seattle Times, University of
Washington Library, Worldwide Web
*Adrift in the
Sound is
a work of fiction and, while the social-political events mentioned in the novel
took place in 1973, the occurrence of events in the story is not historically
precise as to month and day.
Buy Adrift in the Sound online from Amazon.com
or order from independent booksellers.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Portfolio: Seattle Research 2009
Seattle Images
In 2009, I took a research trip to Seattle to refresh my memory while writing ADRIFT IN THE SOUND. The city is one of America's most beautiful and yet retains some of its grittiness from the 1970s. These shots are taken from Gas Works Park, about two blocks from where I lived in 1976 on Meridian Avenue.
Buy Adrift in the Sound online from Amazon.com
or order from independent booksellers.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Excerpt: Orca Attack - Excerpt from Adrift in the Sound
Marian’s Border collie pup, Tucker, ran barking onto
the sand, circling Lizette, running up to Rocket and back to the water’s edge.
The dog came back again, circled them, bounded back to the water, covering the
short distance in a flash.
“Tuck! Come!” Lizette tried using commands, then
begging, “Come boy! Good boy!”
She stopped calling when, in the roiled surf, she
saw her gray speckled seal pop up, dive, pop up. She saw terror in its eyes and
clutched her throat, screamed. The spooked seal made a run for the beach,
cleared the water’s foamy lip, waddled up the wet sand, the dog nipping at its
hind flippers.
A mass of black and white, clicking and gnashing,
roared out of the water, just missing the seal’s flippers. Lizette jumped back.
Tucker lunged forward, lowering his body, barking into the swirling surf. The
orca’s beaching sent water surging around Lizette’s ankles, knocking her off
balance. She saw its pink tongue and conical teeth, it’s searching, hungry
eyes. She shrieked. Rocket grabbed her, pulled her higher up the beach, onto
the spiky salt grass.
“See the scars?” he yelled into her ear, yanking her
arm. “Propeller marks. Jesus! Christ! He’s alive! I can’t believe it!”
Tucker bounded into the water beside the beast’s
snapping jaws. He took a sideways blow from its head and was swept deeper into
the surf, then leapt back onto land, whirled on the orca, barking in a high,
angry pitch.
The seal, stunned by the gush of water, struggled
for traction, clambered for higher ground, barking hoarsely, paddling the sand.
It didn’t see the open mouth, teeth homing in from behind. Jaws clamped. Bones
crunched. Blood spurted in a fountain, sprayed the sand and the dog, lipsticked
the orca’s mouth. Tucker yelped and grabbed at the seal’s gray body dangling
from the orca’s mouth as it slid back into the sea.
It surfaced by the jagged rocks at the edge of the
inlet, the seal’s body gripped in its teeth, still barking. Tucker gained the
rocks in a bound, snarling and snapping. Water surged from the orca’s thrashing
and washed over the jagged rocks. Tucker lost his footing and fell into the
frothy surge, caught his hind leg in a crevice, yelped madly. Rocket leaped
onto the rocks and a wave swept him into the orca’s wash. Lizette watched him
clutch at the outcropping, edging toward Tucker. The orca threw itself against
the rocks, pushed a surge of water over them, creating enough float for Rocket
to free the dog’s leg.
Then the orca was gone in a black and white streak,
dorsal fin erect, tail flipping defiantly as it swam away. Further out, the
huge animal tossed the seal’s body into the air, snatched it, tossed it,
snatched it and sounded, tail flukes lifted defiantly.
The water flattened. The pelting rain washed away
the blood on the sand. Tucker whimpered at Lizette’s feet, covered in blood.
She knelt to look at his wounds and saw his paw and front leg were cut, but his
hind leg was the worst. Rocket ripped off his shirt, picked Tucker up and
wrapped him, holding a wad of sleeve tight against his hock.
“Let’s get Marian,” Lizette said as they ran through
the trees toward the main house.
“Marian! Marian, wake up!” Lizette gasped, charging
into her bedroom. Greg was sitting astride her and she was tangled in the bedsheets
“It’s Tuck,” Lizette said, shaking the end of the
bed, dripping water on the floor, gasping for air. “The orca got him. He’s
bleeding,”
“How the hell did that happen?” Greg demanded,
falling to one side, rolling onto the floor, standing, pulling his pants over
his feet, hopping as he hoisted them up.
“He was trying to protect the seal,” Lizette
explained.
“He’s a fuckin’ sheep dog,” Greg yelled at her.
“He’s supposed to protect sheep. Dog’s a head case, man. Now, get the hell out
of here.”
Marian pushed past them, pulling a loose dress over
her head as she went. In the kitchen, Rocket held the whimpering animal against
his bare chest. Marian cleared the table and put Tucker on it.
“Get me some towels from the hall closet,” Marian
ordered. “Greg, get my black bag from under the bed. Put him on the table. I
need to take a look.”
She worked Tucker’s leg, checking for fractures,
torn tendons, any sign of irreparable damage. The dog whined and lay his head
down. Greg put the medicine bag on the table. Marian reached inside for a
syringe and a vial of Novocain. She gave the dog a quick shot and he relaxed.
She shaved the fur from his leg, while Rocket held his head steady, and she
looked more closely at the wounds. Lizette slid down the cabinet to the floor,
sobbing. Marian looked up, saw that in the commotion Poland had come in.
“Poland, get Liz out of here,” Marian said. “Take
her out to the barn. Show her the new lambs. Do it now. Greg, put a pot of
water on the stove to boil. Hold him steady, Rocket.”
Lizette leaned on Poland as they sloshed through the
rain to the barn, going into the cold darkness, smelling the sweet hay and
manure. In the pens around them, hungry lambs bleated and nursed.
“The seal was my friend,” Lizette sobbed. “He came
to me when I first got here. I tried to talk with him, but he was so shy.” She
stopped to catch her breath, explain. “He played outside the window while I
painted. The orca threw him around like a dog’s chew toy.”
Poland led her into a lamb pen and pressed her down
in the straw. He went and got a blanket and a couple of bottles with heavy
nipples and came back to sit beside her, wrapped her legs, handed her a bottle
and a lamb.
“My cousin married a Tlingit woman,” he said. “He
lives up north with her. They got three kids, all girls. They’re grown up,
married now. My cousin, he said his wife tells a story about how, in a time before killer whales, there was a hunter and
totem carver named Natsilane. See?” Lizette nodded that she understood.
“So, he got a wife on Duke Island. A
chief’s daughter. Beautiful. Big chest.” Poland put down the lamb he was
feeding and bobbled his hands in front of him. Lizette giggled and sniffed.
“So,” Poland continued, “he lived with
her people. At first the village people didn’t like him, but then they saw he
was a good hunter and he shared his kills with them. But his wife’s brothers
didn’t like being shown up by an outsider.
“They decided to get even, teach him a
lesson. On the day of the big seal hunt they paddled near rocks, and Natsilane
climbed out of the canoe and plunged his spear into a big bull seal that
bellowed into the wind.” Poland suddenly trumpeted like a seal, startling
Lizette and the lambs, making her burst into tears again. Poland hugged her,
stroked her head.
“Sorry,” he said. “I got excited. So,
his spear point broke off in the seal.” Poland showed how it snapped with his
fists, the lamb cradled between his arms. “The sea lion charged into the water.
But that wasn’t the worst part. The brothers were paddling away as fast as they
could, leaving Natsilane on the rocks.”
Speaking softly in the half light of the
barn, Poland said, “What they did broke his heart.” He reached over Lizette and
tucked the blanket tighter around her legs. “He pulled his cape over him and
slept on the rocks, but woke up when he heard his name whispered on the wind.
He saw a sea lion that looked like a man and followed him into the water, down
beneath the waves and into the Seal Chief’s House.”
“Where was Watches Underwater?” Lizette
asked. She snuggled tighter against Poland and let the lamb suckle her fingers.
“Couldn’t she help?”
“I told
you. It’s a Tlingit story, not Lummi.”
He cleared his throat. “No one’s watching in this story. Now, when they got to
the great house, the chief asked Natsilane if he could help his injured son.
Natsilane pulled his spear point out and sewed up the wound. The sea lions
formed a raft with their backs and took him home. The seal son healed and,
later, the chief granted Natsilane the power to create life.”
Lizette
shifted the lamb on her lap. “Then what happened?”
“Well, the
boy carved a black and white fish out of spruce, the first killer whale. It was
big and beautiful and no one had ever seen anything like it. When he put it in
the water, it came to life and swam out to sea, sleek and black with a white
saddle. It came back whenever Natsilane called.”
“This is a
long story,” Lizette said, yawning.
“No, it’s a
good story,” Poland said, putting down his lamb and standing up. “I told it to
your father once. He wrote it down. It was the first orca and Natsilane taught
it to hunt and help the people. It brought schools of fish to the families and
they feasted everyday.”
“Then what happened?” Lizette asked
“Happened?”
Poland looked disappointed that she didn’t get the point of the story.
“Nothing
happened. Now orcas live in the water and help the people. I’m telling you this
so you understand the orca’s job and don’t get scared. Seals eat the fish,
orcas eat the seals. We eat everything. Sometimes we work together, sometimes
not. They’re hunters just like us.”
“My father
used to tell me stories when I was little,” Lizette said. “But, his stories
were shorter.” Poland puckered his lips, suggesting he didn’t approve of
abridgement, and took the sleeping lamb from her.
“Your
father is a good man,” he said, placing the lamb in a nest of straw. “He’s just
hurt right now. I’ve known him a long time, your mother, too.”
They looked
up to see Marian come in carrying Tucker, his hind leg wrapped in a big, white
bandage.
“I did the
best I could, but the gash is pretty deep,” she said. “He’s a good sheep dog,
but he may not be much use anymore. He may end up with a bad limp. Hard to tell
if the tendon was nicked and how well he’ll heal. He’s still a pup.”
She handed
the dog to Poland. “Can you take him home to Abaya? She’ll know what to do.”
“No.”
Lizette stood up, folded her arms across her chest to block any argument. “I
want to keep him with me.”
“Nursing an
injured dog is a lot of work,” Marian said. “You’re not well yourself. But, if
you want to try, get a box and a blanket. You’ll have to keep him quiet. I
don’t want the bandage getting dirty. There’s food in the cupboard. Take a bowl
for water.”
Poland
shuffled through the supply room off the main barn, holding Tucker, while
Lizette went to the house for food and bowls. They met outside the barn, Poland
carrying the dog in his arms, Lizette leading the way down the trail.
“I’ve got
rounds tomorrow,” Marian called after them. “I’ll be gone early. Then errands
in town after that. Stay out of the barn until Greg and Rocket get rid of
everybody. I told them they have to clear out first thing tomorrow.”
Buy Adrift in the Sound online from Amazon.com
or order from independent booksellers.
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