For the Love of Bees—A Conversation with Meredith May: I heard about Meredith May from the founders of UC Davis’ Art and Science Fusion program, artist Donna Billick and entomologist Diane Ullman. As part of their program they've created a honeybee haven and forage garden.      “A reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle was up here," Donna told me, "Meredith May. She has two beehives on top of the SF Chronicle building.”      A few days later, I was at UC Davis interviewing Billick and Ullman. What they're doing at UC Davis is inspiring on several levels. And what ... Aug 24, 2013, 28130 reads

Three Short Pieces: The Post Office; Time-Sensitive; Reckless Abandon The Post Office I have an incurable love for lines at the post office. This is a luxurious indulgence, I know. The kind important people can ill-afford. But I am comfortably insignificant. Nothing catastrophic happens to the world when I am made to wait for indefinite periods of time, so I am at liberty to love these lines and the speed of molasses at which they move. They give me opportunity to admire the cheerful competence of our postal workers. How brisk and good-natured they are. Even the curmudgeons among them, the ones who speak sharply, criticizing sloppy packaging, pointing ... Jan 23, 2014, 24665 reads

Interview: Godfrey Reggio: A Call for Another Way of Living Photos of Godfrey Reggio - R. Whittkaer One Friday morning I happened to tune in to KQED’s morning program Forum where an interview with Phillip Glass and Godfrey Reggio was underway. They were in town for a weekend showing at Davies Symphony Hall of Reggio’s Qatsi Trilogy: Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi. Phillip Glass, along with his ensemble, would be performing the music he had composed for the films.          Koyaanisqatsi left a deep impression on me when I’d first seen it in 1983, as did Powaqqatsi, which came out five ... Feb 18, 2006, 57541 reads

A Conversation with Irene Sullivan: Understanding of the Heart It began with an email. Someone had discovered the magazine and had been touched, Irene Sullivan. It opened an exchange. I learned that Sullivan had lived in remote regions of Alaska providing health care as a nurse practitioner to the Inupiat speaking peoples there, that she was an avid photographer, that her experiences with indigenous people awakened an interest in the role of women in shamanic practices among arctic peoples, and that later she found herself doing independent research as a Fulbright Scholar in Denmark at the Institute of Eskimologi.    ... May 18, 2008, 11502 reads

Camille Seaman: We All Belong to the Earth The first thing that captured my attention upon stepping into Camille Seaman’s home was one of her stunning photos, a large framed print centered on one wall.  And then I noticed two large, wolf-like dogs in kennels. They regarded me silently. About forty-five minutes later, having looked at scores of Seaman’s sublime Arctic and Antarctic photos, she let one of the dogs out. It came over quietly to check me out. As I looked down at the animal’s long face and erect ears, it wasn’t apprehension I was feeling—let’s call it mobilized ... Apr 30, 2013, 110454 reads

A Conversation with Ann Weber: Enough, Not Enough Sometime not so long after this magazine had been launched, I remember a conversation I had with Ann Weber. I knew her work, but if we’d actually met, the word acquaintance would suffice. The conversation began well, and quickly became quite friendly. In recollection, I was surprised by its warmth and can remember feeling emboldened. Before long a proposal was put forth—by whom, I don’t recall, but I suspect it was Ann. “Why don’t we begin a series of dinners with artists? We’d each invite two or three artists. It could be at my studio ... Oct 15, 2017, 22497 reads

Kilo Charles Six VHU: I received my first Amateur Radio licenses in January of 1991 at the age of 49. As a kid in the mid-west I had a radio shack in the wash house, an outbuilding where the women folk did laundry; it was filled with old Atwater-Kents, Philcos, Crosleys and whatever else I found in the junk yards. I'd go there at night and sneak cigarettes. I could bring in WSN in Nashville, Tennessee, XERF Del Rio, Texas and other far off stations. I could bring in some DX (foreign stations) on 41 meters and some hams on 40. The aerial was a run of wire I thumb-tacked to the peak of the house ... May 18, 2008, 19250 reads

Mark Bulwinkle—What Drives Us?: by Richard Whittaker Bulwinkle at his studio in West Oakland, CA 1997 While Mark Bulwinkle was a student at the University of Pittsburgh his eyes were opened to the world of art. In 1972, four years after graduating, and a year spent in New York, he moved to the Bay Area. He decided to continue his art education at the San Francisco Art Institute, and in only eight months received his MFA. I remarked it was a pretty quick trip to the degree.      “Well, I’d been doing a lot of work,” he said.      No doubt, this was an understatement. A ... Mar 2, 1999, 20423 reads

The Brotherhood of Fools and Other Stories: The Brotherhood of Fools There was a time in my life, for about six months, when I lived in a Catholic monastic community. I had occasionally taken retreat among the Franciscan Order and sometimes with the Dominicans. I am not a Catholic and dare not even call myself Christian, in view of the Tablets of Stone, which prohibit the taking of the Lord’s name in vain.      The occasions of retreat were satisfying experiences set in splendid environments. I came to some affection for the kind-heartedness of the Franciscans, and to some appreciation for ... Jan 29, 2014, 5529 reads

The Secret of Bayou Teche: photo - r. whittaker Jerome untied the pirogue and picked his way out a few feet from the banks of the Atchafalaya. The morning sun reflected off the river and a solitary black nutrea rat skimmed waters creating a wide, silvery wake. It had been a long time since Jerome had crossed these waters, almost eight years, when he was ten. As he eased upstream near the bank of the slow moving river, he was careful not to disturb Dewey Hebert’s trotlines. Jerome knew that they were Dewey’s by the distinctive knotting on the low-lying branches from which they ... Apr 28, 2004, 2121 reads