HCN writers publish books and garner awards
Plus visitors to the office and corrections.
Former HCN intern Nick Neely (spring 2010) just received the 2015 John Burroughs Nature Essay Award for his essay “The Book of Agate,” in the Fall/Winter 2014-’15 issue of Ninth Letter, a literary journal from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Nick is currently a writer-in-residence at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology on the Oregon coast. “Neely, who declares himself a collector of stones and of places, gives evidence in this essay that he is also a quietly adroit collector of readers,” wrote the judges. Past recipients include Michael Pollan, Rick Bass, Brian Doyle and Scott Russell Sanders.
In March, Ducks Unlimited presented the 2015 Wetland Achievement Award for Communications to HCN contributor Hal Herring. Paul Schmidt, the group’s chief conservation officer, lauded Herring for doing a “lengthy and extraordinary job of covering sportsmen’s issues, water quality and quantity issues, habitat loss from the prairies to the Gulf Coast and other conservation-focused topics.” Congratulations, guys!
Two of our contributors have new books. David Gessner journeys across the West, seeking the legacy of two iconic writers: Wallace Stegner and Ed Abbey. All the Wild That Remains (W.W. Norton & Company) is “equal parts criticism, biography, environmental call-to-arms, and irrepressible personal travelogue.” Jeremy Smith just released Epic Measures (HarperCollins), “the true story of a 20-year, 500-scientist, $100-million moonshot attempt to track and quantify every illness, injury, and death for everyone on Earth. … (to discover) what really hurts us and what will best improve our health.”
NOTE FROM A MISSED VISITOR
Recently, we asked visitors who’d been to our Paonia, Colorado, office, but not seen their names printed, to contact us. Reader Ray Miller wrote: “I was there in September of last year. It was in the midst of congressional election campaigning, environmental voting issues, and changes to the HCN board, so I see why it happened. I live in Bayfield, Colorado, and moved here with my wife, Janice, in September 2013. I retired as lead wetland scientist after 20 years with the South Florida Water Management District. My wife was a school administrator. … We are enjoying retirement and like fly-fishing, hiking, biking and visiting new craft breweries. I am a volunteer for the Colorado River Watch program.” Thanks, Ray!
CORRECTIONS
In the March 16 issue, a caption placed Wallowa in Washington; it’s in Oregon.
In the March 2 issue, for the “Endangered Languages” map, it should be noted that all locations are approximate and that Census figures are projections, not actual counts. #23, Cocopah, should have been near Yuma, Arizona, and #59, Chemehuevi, on the Colorado River. Yavapai, #43, and Maricopa, #53, should have been switched. #62 is duplicated; the California instance should be deleted. #38, Makah, is missing and should be on the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula. For the corrected map see hcne.ws/1EGgfmU. Also, there is a small handful of surviving speakers of a critically endangered dialect of Paviotso, all of whom live in Bridgeport, California. Linguist Maziar Toosarvandani is working with three of them to build a dictionary and story compendium. Endangered Languages Project collaborators also include Eastern Michigan University, First Peoples’ Cultural Council, and several other groups. HCN regrets the errors.
