by Michael Shapiro | Jan 31, 2026 | Environment, Featured, Music, Stories, Travel
I was coming home from a day of cross-country skiing when I got the news that Bob Weir had died. Weir and the Grateful Dead had been a part of my life since I saw my first Dead show, in Oakland on December 26, 1980. A teenager from the sheltered suburbs south of San...
by Michael Shapiro | Dec 21, 2025 | Environment, Sports, Stories, Travel
When my wife, Jackie, invited me to join her and four women friends she’d known since college on a ski trip in Yellowstone, I hesitated. I appreciated being included but didn’t want to intrude on their gals’ getaway. I asked Jackie to check with each of her friends,...
by Admin | May 27, 2025 | Past Events
Tuesday, June 17, 2025, 6 pm, Book Passage, Corte Madera, free! As a fellow longtime whitewater raft guide, I share Bridget’s love for rivers and appreciate how moving water can teach us and heal us. I’m thrilled that Bridget asked me to join her in conversation for...
by Admin | May 27, 2025 | Past Events
Thursday, July 17th, 2025, 6pm, Book Passage, Corte Madera, free! For young people it can be easy to be idealistic and devote ourselves to art. Then reality — and responsibilities — set in. As a friend said to me shortly after we graduated from college, “Life costs...
by Michael Shapiro | May 1, 2025 | Blog, Books, Interviews, Stories
We all feel it, whether we’re 30 or 60 or 90: Time feels like it’s speeding up each year. As the Grateful Dead sing in “The Music Never Stopped” … “Lord the band kept us so busy. We forgot about the time.” Yes, time flies when...
by Michael Shapiro | Aug 1, 2024 | Environment, Interviews, Sports, Stories, Travel
I met Kirk Keeler in the mid-90s through friends and though we’ve only seen one another occasionally over the years I’ve been impressed by his spirit and commitment to his goals. He’s a dedicated cyclist (we share that) and a talented...
by Michael Shapiro | Jul 23, 2024 | Blog, Environment, Sports, Stories, Travel
In 2018, my wife Jackie and I had the privilege and pleasure of trekking with Jamling Tenzing to Nepal’s Mustang region near Tibet. In 2023, Jamling invited us to share in the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the 1953 ascent of Everest. His father Tenzing...
by Michael Shapiro | Feb 14, 2024 | Interviews, Music, Stories
Most stories about Lukas Nelson start with referencing his popular pop, Willie. So when I interviewed Lukas in advance of his Santa Rosa appearance in early 2024, I made a point to ask a series of questions about his own work, then later in the interview I asked a...
by Michael Shapiro | Mar 19, 2023 | Blog, Environment, Stories
Sierra, the country’s leading environmental magazine, has a front-of-the-book section called Notes from Here and There that’s akin to the New Yorker’s Talk of the Town. It’s an ideal venue for spotlighting personal views on the environment, not...
by Admin | Jul 18, 2022 | Events, Featured
This three-day seminar has opened the gates to aspiring and working travel writers and photographers for three decades. Shapiro attended the first conference in 1992 and went on to write for the San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post and National Geographic. Beyond...
