Photo by Paul Sihler

The Last Word—for discerning readers—by author Gregory Zeigler.

Something good to read.  Anything from the Bruno, Chief of Police series by Martin Walker. The fifteen novels in this police procedural series set in the Perigord Region of France, although uneven in quality, never fail to delight.

This is a quote from my most recent Bruno adventure, The Coldest Case, during which there is nary a shot fired but a forest fire is rapidly approaching.

Bruno knew the area (threatened by fire) … one of the most celebrated stretches of the Dordogne River, where it was flanked by the three castles of Milandes, Beynac and Castelnaud. “We’d better eat soon, in case I’m called away” he said, and asked Gilles to bring out the gazpacho and start serving while Bruno went into the kitchen to put the pumpkins back in the oven. He sliced the fat tourte of bread and took it out to his friends on the terrace and sat down to enjoy the chilled soup.

Bruno is a kind and courageous country cop—as well as a skilled chef—who always has his priorities in order. Eat and drink first, fight crime (and fire) later.

And this.  “We Have Never Been Here Before” by Thomas Friedman, NYT, 2/27/22

Something I wrote: “Smoke and flame raged on Boulder Mountain as the two fires converged into one towering conflagration. Jake was watching his favorite mountain burn. He suddenly understood why so many Americans had mourned after the Yellowstone fires of 1988. Boulder Mountain’s aspen forest, what with aspens in a grove all being clones, was said to be one of the largest living organisms on earth. Yellowstone is recovering. Natural and even accidental fires are one thing, but arson in forests another altogether.”

Something to consider. Uh oh, I’m doing it again, recommending a TV series. But it doesn’t take a psychologist to understand why optimistic statements from Ted Lasso, like the example below, are resonating with folks right now.

“If you care about someone, and you got a little love in your heart, there ain’t nothing you can’t get through together.”

Something to do: Any gesture, of any size, to show support for the people of Ukraine. In this day and wired age millions of David’s just might be able to bring down one Goliath.

Happy Reading. Gregory Zeigler, author of the Jake Goddard and Susan Brand thriller series.

gzeiglerbooks.com 

FreeRangeWriters.com

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  Photo by Paul Sihler

The Last Word—for discerning readers—by author Gregory Zeigler.

Something good to read. Agent Sonya: Moscow’s Most Daring Wartime Spy by Ben Macintyre.

Spies and novelists are not so very different: each conjures up an imagined world and attempts to lure others into it. Some of the greatest writers of the twentieth century were also spies, including Graham Greene, Somerset Maugham, Ian Fleming, and John le Carre. In many ways Ursula’s (Sonya) life had been a fiction, presenting one sort of person to the world, while being someone else in reality. As Ruth Werner (Ursula/Sonya’s pen name) she became, once again, another person.

I also recommend Operation Mincemeat and The Spy and the Traitor by Macintyre. (Non-fiction is on my mind right now. I’mteaching an eight-week memoir class through the Teton County Library to a group of eager and promising writers.)

And this. Anything by David Gessner and especially his guest post on Free Range Writers scheduled for February 6, 2022. Gessner writes about Teddy Roosevelt, Thoreau, Stegner, Abbey—even ultimate frisbee.

Something I wrote: Posted on 1/29/22 for JHNordic.com.

But just imagine the luxury of a skate and classic track, beckoning on crisp winter mornings say, fifty feet from your kitchen coffee pot. Add to that, twenty-four miles of connected trails that first hug the edge of a meandering river—steam rising among a lamentation of swans—and then climb up into sunny conifer-covered hills to a yurt with a welcoming wood burning stove. Try to imagine the silent nights, the only sound being the crunch of snow underfoot, and stars sparkling like sequins on a black dress. Then you would have either to be dreaming; or enjoying a winter retreat at Harriman State Park in Island Park, Idaho.

Something to consider. I’ve never recommended a series in this newsletter but here goes.  “The Good Fight” streaming on Paramount Plus offers a bitter/sweet perspective on that quaint time in our history soon to become known as Donald Trump’s only term as President. This series is very well written.

Something to do:  Buy one or more of David Gessner’s ten titles at your local independent bookstore. If they don’t have them, ask them to order them.

Happy Reading. Gregory Zeigler, author of the Jake Goddard and Susan Brand thriller series. gzeiglerbooks.com  FreeRangeWriters.com

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 Photo by Chuck Schneebeck.

The Last Word—for discerning readers—by author Gregory Zeigler.

Something good to read. I Wonder as I Wander: an autobiography by Langston Hughes.

I was a bit ashamed of myself for having been startled at the unexpected sight of a dark face in a hospital I had thought filled only with white prisoners. Now here I was—a Negro myself—suddenly frightened by another dark face.

A quote from the time when Langston Hughes encountered a Moroccan prisoner while covering the Spanish Civil War. Hughes was, first and foremost, a wonderful writer. But as a “Negro” traveling the globe between the world wars and in a time of Jim Crow, his observations and comparisons (Color in Spain? It doesn’t matter.) are compelling and poignant but never bitter. GZ

And this from FRW.  

The amazing photo above of a Malachite Kingfisher is one of several on the page I designed of Chuck Schneebeck’s generously shared bird photos from around the world. Free Range Writers has enjoyed the most positive comments and the second most views ever for this holiday post. Many of you have already enjoyed Chuck’s virtual visual holiday gift but please share it with friends or family members. It will put a smile on their faces. https://www.freerangewriters.com/post/holiday-flights-of-fancy

Something I wrote. Travels With Max: In Search of Steinbeck’s America Fifty Years Later.

I have never collected objects of any sort. I don’t have a postcard, stamp, or baseball card collection. Except for mental snapshots I take few photographs. The only thing I collect is stories. Everybody’s got one and, for the most part, people are eager to share.

Something to consider.

I’m no saint. I’m fed up with the ignorance of folks who are anti-vax and anti-mask. But when a far-right leaning neighbor recently asked me to accompany him to an urgent care clinic, I did so gladly. And when I later needed him to plow our driveway, he did so gladly.

Something to do.

Reach out to someone whose views you do not share. And have a happy healthy 2022.

Happy reading. Gregory Zeigler, author of the Jake Goddard and Susan Brand eco-thriller series.

Website: http://www.gzeiglerbooks.com  Book trailer:  https://youtu.be/je1zwN3g-W8   

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Wall Street Panel near Bears Ears National Monument’s restored southern boundary.

The Last Word—for discerning readers—by author Gregory Zeigler.

Something good to read. Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness.

That was the important thing to remember about Bears Ears, the thing that got lost in the coverage. The important thing was that there was one difference between Bears Ears National Monument and all the other national monuments that came before it: it was the first national monument to fully grow out of the thinking, support, and political power of Native American tribes. What made the threat and reductions even more painful was that they followed a great moment of hope.

In 1903 when Teddy Roosevelt stood on the rim of the Grand Canyon and urged people to “Leave it as it is,” many thought that was a bad idea. But TR fought for the Grand Canyon and millions of other wild acres. GZ

And this from NPR. Biden restoresprotections for Bears Ears Monument, 4 years after Trump downsized it.

Something I wrote. Rare as Earth

“The land no longer under national monument protection has been reopened to claims under the General Mining Law of 1872,” Amy said.

“Add to that the list of assaults of the Environmental Prostitution Agency,” Jake said pounding the steering wheel. “New mineral, oil, and gas leasing opportunities in protected lands such as the Arctic National Wildlife refuge—check. Easing drilling regs and rolling back habitat protection for endangered species—check. Now this monument reduction bullshit—check.”

Something to consider.

We are not out of the woods, politically. Nor should we stop fighting for them.

Something to do.

One can’t read Leave It As It Is without wanting to put on the gloves and fight like Roosevelt for wild places and wild things, and for the future of this planet.

Happy reading. Gregory Zeigler, author of the Jake Goddard and Susan Brand eco-thriller series.

Website: http://www.gzeiglerbooks.com  Book trailer:  https://youtu.be/je1zwN3g-W8   

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Snoopy Rock in Sedona, Arizona. Can you find Woodstock?

The Last Word—for discerning readers—by author Gregory Zeigler.

Something good to read.

Undaunted Courage: Merriweather Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose.

The Nez Perce had seen the white soldiers hungry and fed them; seen them cold and provided fuel, seen them without horses and put them on mounts, seen them confused and provided good advice, seen them make fools of themselves trying to cross mountains ten feet deep in snow and not snickered; seen them lost and guided them. They had ridden together, eaten together, slept together, played together, and crossed the Lolo Trail together. They had managed to cross communication and cultural barriers to become genuine friends.

Sadly, this did not set the precedent for future white/native relations. The Nez Perce saw their treaty broken less than seventy years later, and they were driven from their ancestral lands. GZ

And this—a moving call to action in the New York Times recommended by my friend James Mathieu.

“A Farewell to Readers, With Hope” by Nicholas Kristof
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/opinion/sunday/nick-kristof-farewell.html?referringSource=articleShare

Something I wrote. Some Say Fire

Deaths on Indian land … have a tendency to become a very low priority. The common assumption being just another Indian-on-Indian crime probably involving alcohol and/or drugs. We are required by law to report serious crimes on the reservation to the FBI. Just to give you an indicator of how effective that is studies show that one-in-three American Indian women are raped during their lifetimes, In 2011 the U.S. Justice Department chose to prosecute only thirty-five percent of rape cases reported on reservations.

Gloria Fox, fictional Chairwoman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe.

Something to consider.

Partisan politics including skepticism about science were factors in 1806 when the Lewis and Clark expedition returned. Several senators, including John Quincy Adams, questioned the value of the scientific discoveries made.

Something to do.

Encourage the light. Support Nicholas Kristof for Governor of Oregon.

Happy reading.

Gregory Zeigler, author of the Jake Goddard and Susan Brand eco-thriller series.

Website: http://www.gzeiglerbooks.com  Book trailer:  https://youtu.be/je1zwN3g-W8   

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 Photo courtesy Paul Silher.

The Last Word—for discerning readers—by author Gregory Zeigler (angry edition).

Something good to read.

Consider the Lobster and Other Essays by David Foster Wallace

To be a mass tourist, for me, is to become a pure late-date American: alien, ignorant, greedy for something you cannot ever have, disappointed in a way you can never admit. It is to spoil, by way of sheer ontology, the very unspoiledness you are there to experience. It is to impose yourself on places that in all non-economic ways would be better, realer without you. It is, in lines and gridlock and transaction after transaction, to confront a dimension of yourself that is as inescapable as it is painful: As a tourist you become economically significant but essentially loathsome, an insect on a dead thing. Consider the Lobster.

We are feeling a little bitter about what is happening to our beautiful Jackson Hole.

And this article The Atlantic.

No, Vaccinated People Are Not ‘Just as Likely’ to Spread the Coronavirus as Unvaccinated People.

Something I wrote.

Rare as Earth

Henry was the first to speak. He took the mic while trying to still the tremor in his hand. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat to keep his voice clear and steady.“Many species are facing extinction. We are choking on our fossil fuel emissions. Because of the … actions of mankind our glaciers and icecaps are melting at alarming rates. Yet we continue to … drill ever deeper oil and gas wells, causing polluted ground water and destructive earthquakes.”

Something to consider. 

A man named David, who we had just met, tried to buy us dinner last night in Bluff, Utah, saying, “So I can at least do one nice thing for other folks today.”

Something to do.

A refreshing yard sign we noticed in front of several homes during a recent trip to Helper, Utah.

Get Involved/Stay Involved

Happy reading.

Gregory Zeigler, author of the Jake Goddard and Susan Brand eco-thriller series.

Website: http://www.gzeiglerbooks.com  Book trailer:  https://youtu.be/je1zwN3g-W8 

Blog: freerangewriters.com

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My once-in-a-lifetime daughter, Jamie, gave me a once-in-a-lifetime experience for my 75^th birthday. A trip on the water around the islands of Maine on the Stephen Taber, a 150-year-old schooner.

The Last Word—for discerning readers—by author Gregory Zeigler.

Something good to read.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

When on that shivering winter’s night, the Pequod thrust her vindictive bows into the cold malicious waves, who should I see standing at her helm but Bulkington! I looked with sympathetic awe and fearfulness upon the man, who in mid-winter just landed from a four years’ dangerous voyage, could so unrestingly push off again for still another tempestuous term. Chapter 23: The Lee Shore.

And this article about water from the New York Times.

In a First, US Declares Water Shortage on Colorado River

Something I wrote.

The Straw That Broke, published ten years ago, predicted shortages on the Colorado River and the conflicts that were bound to follow.

Something to consider.  Water, in any form on this planet, is precious.

Something to do.  Clean water—conserve it and fight for it.

Happy reading. Gregory Zeigler, author of the Jake Goddard and Susan Brand eco-thriller series.

Website: http://www.gzeiglerbooks.com  Book trailer:  https://youtu.be/je1zwN3g-W8   

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Looking northwest from the top of the Badlands near Dubois, Wyoming. Smoke obscures the view of the Absaroka Mountains.

Photo by Paul Sihler.

The Last Word—for discerning readers—by author Gregory Zeigler.

Something good to read.

The River by Peter Heller.

In the farthest distance, over the trees, was an orange glow. It lay on the horizon like the light from banked embers … It seemed to spread over two quadrants and they didn’t say a word but the silence of it and the way it seemed to breathe scared them to the bone. The prevailing wind would push the blaze right to them.

And this article from The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES)

Wildfires and Climate Change (https://www.c2es.org/content/wildfires-and-climate-change/)

Something I wrote.

A small fir in flames fell across the road and Jake made the instantaneous call to drive over it. There was no turning back. All Jake could see in the rearview now was a solid wall of flames. The front of the car lurched over the log like a lion leaping through a flaming hoop. Halfway over, the car ground to a roaring standstill—high-centered—on a burning tree.

Some Say Fire

Something to consider.

Although, as of this writing, Wyoming has no forest fires, we are experiencing dangerous air because of burns in neighboring states. In fact, the smoke has made its way as far as New York City. We are all in this together.

Something to do. 

Support the work of C2ES.

Happy reading. Gregory Zeigler, author of the Jake Goddard and Susan Brand eco-thriller series.

Website: http://www.gzeiglerbooks.com  Book trailer:  https://youtu.be/je1zwN3g-W8   

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A barn swallow guarding her nest at St. Vrain State Park, Firestone, CO. St. Vrain is packed with rivers, ditches, ponds, and birds.

The Last Word—for discerning readers—by author Gregory Zeigler.

Something good to read. 

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield. Setterfield’s novel, centered around an ancient inn on the Thames, is about the flow of story and of rivers, and how the two are linked. The author deftly uses water references throughout the novel. This particular scene takes place on a boat on a river. He touched her and she touched him and when he entered her he felt a river rise in him. For a little while he mastered the river; then it grew and he abandoned himself to it. There was only the river then, nothing but the river, and the river was everything—until the current at last surged and broke and ebbed.

And this article by Nick Bowlin in High Country News (2/24/21)

“Will the climate crisis tap out the Colorado River?”

Something I wrote.

A glistening pool appeared before them in a shallow depression at the base of a small alcove in the canyon wall. Monkey flowers and small deciduous bushes surrounded the spring. Ferns grew on the damp rock. The women lingered at the edge of the spring … their thoughts spilling out at random.

The Straw That Broke.

Something to consider.

A recent letter from American Rivers starts out with this shocking paragraph.“Rivers are the most degraded ecosystems on the planet. More than rainforests. More than the Artic. Even more than the damage humans have inflicted on the oceans.” I know, discouraging.

Something to do.  

Once Upon a River ends with this line, “You have haunted here long enough, and besides, you surely have rivers of your own to attend to.”

Consider supporting the work of nonprofit American Rivers www.AmericanRivers.org

Happy reading. Gregory Zeigler, author of the Jake Goddard and Susan Brand eco-thriller series.

Website: http://www.gzeiglerbooks.com  Book trailer:  https://youtu.be/je1zwN3g-W8   

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Peregrine Falcon having a snipe for lunch. Photo taken on Sea Lion Island in the Falkland Islands. 

Chuck Schneebeck Photography

The Last Word—for discerning readers—by author Gregory Zeigler.

Something good to read.

The Falcon Thief, by Joshua Hammer, non-fiction account of a notorious international wildlife criminal. ‘“Those killing birds of prey are typically serial offenders, just like egg thieves,” wrote Guy Shorrock in his blog for The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. “We have received detailed reports of gamekeepers that have killed hundreds of raptors during their career.’”

And this article by Hawkwatch International.

“Found an Injured or Young Bird?” https://hawkwatch.org/learn/injured-birds

Something I wrote.

“A small falcon, a merlin, stops by our yard each spring on his way somewhere, no doubt north of here. He cases the neighborhood and swoops down on birds visiting our feeders, taking the concept of a bird feeder to a whole new level.”

Something to consider.

Father’s Day, aka “Feather’s Day” at the Raptor Center in Wilson, WY will celebrate raptors throughout the week of June 16-20 with digital learning opportunities. The center will also offer an in-person opportunity to see their resident raptors (or feathered ambassadors) on June 20. raptors@tetonraptorcenter.org

Something to do.

Check out my recent post at FreeRangeWriters.com, “Yellowstone: understaffed, underfunded, overwhelmed—still magical.”

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Happy reading.

Gregory Zeigler, author of the Jake Goddard and Susan Brand eco-thriller series.

Website: http://www.gzeiglerbooks.com  Book trailer:  https://youtu.be/je1zwN3g-W8   

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