Stuff I Like

Climbing and Hiking

I began hiking in high school, climbing in college. While in the Peace Corps, I climbed Kilimanjaro and hiked around the Alpes Maritimes in France. Later, it was the mountain ranges of Papua New Guinea. My first published book was a Lonely Planet guide to the PNG mountains. In the US, I got particularly interested in the Cascades in Oregon, and also in the deserts and mountains of Arizona. After getting lost in the Santa Catalinas and falling down a glacier in Oregon, I’ve slacked off a little bit, but there’s nothing I like better than to be as far away from civilization as I can get, and as high up as I can get.

Senegal and the Bassari

I lived in Senegal for over six years, mainly in Senegal-Oriental, about as far away from the capital as one could be, only a few kilometers from the border of Guinea. During my first year there, I made the acquaintance of the Bassari people, and began a relationship which has lasted for nearly sixty years. I lived in the Bassari village of Etyolo, made many friends there, and try to return as often as possible, usually once every two or three years. I feel lucky and honored to have gotten to know these kind and resourceful people.

Furniture

I’ve always been interested in building stuff. I started making furniture as a form of therapy, and discovered that I liked working with wood. I’m not fancy, and I’m not imaginative, but I have a weakness for Stickley-style furniture, and so I turn out a piece or two every so often. Unfortunately, the house is now rather full of heavy oak furniture, so I have stopped for the moment, while I contemplate my next move. Something smaller. Model airplanes, perhaps.

In the meantime, it’s birdhouses.