Essays and Articles

I particularly love the essay. It’s a form of literary collage, a marvelous way to take disparate pieces and mold them into a whole. Below are links to two essays in which I particularly enjoyed this process:

“Evolution Mobile.” Ecotone, Vol. 4, Nos. 1 and 2, 2008
“Mapping the Sacred Places.” Orion, Spring 1994

My work has also appeared in many newspapers and magazines, some national, some statewide, and my pieces have been included in numerous anthologies:

My 2025 series of articles about forestry in Maine, and the challenges faced by both conservationists and the industry, appeared in the Maine Monitor and Portland Press Herald. Find them here, here, and here.
“An Imperfect Marriage: Thoughts on Staying Faithful to Home.” Updated and revised. Best Creative Nonfiction of the South, Vol. 2: North Carolina. Casey Clabough and Michael Chitwood, eds. Texas Review Press, 2017.
My articles for The New York Times Magazine have included a profile of a scientist who studied whales by cutting up those that stranded on beaches, an exploration of whether the critically endangered red wolf might not be a true species; and a piece on efforts by wildlife biologists to change the behaviors of California Condors in hopes of saving the species.
“Writing from the Rim.” Amazing Place: What North Carolina Means to Writers. Marianne Gingher, ed. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2015.
“North Carolina Triumph.” Unspoiled: Writers Speak for Florida’s Coast. Susan Cerulean, Janisse Ray, and James Wolpart, eds. Heart of the Earth Press, Talahassee, 2010.
“Oysters for All.” Orion, May/June 2009
“Evolution Mobile.” Ecotone, Vol. 4, Nos. 1 and 2, 2008 view here
“Ode to Jeff Cobb.” Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark. Paul Bogard, ed. University of Nevada Press, Reno, 2008.
Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape, contributor. Barry Lopez and Debra Gwartney, eds., Trinity University Press, 2006. I was a major contributor to this fascinating, encyclopedic undertaking.
“The Year of the Comets: An Episode of Depression Teaches that We Know More about the Heavens than About the Cosmos Within.” Excerpt from book of the same name. Washington Post, February 8, 2006. View here

Online

While my work centers on how the natural places where we spend our time help shape who we are, I have also published columns and blogs about the art of giving assistance to people in need or trouble. Many of those pieces appeared in the Huffington Post (2015 to 2017) and in online publications like Tiny Buddha (2017 to 2019).

I’ve had the most fun, though, with the personal blog I post about eight times a year—sometimes a bit less frequently if I’m working on a big project. (That would be 2025! More pieces are on the way.)

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