Southern Ireland with Dervla Murphy

Southern Ireland with Dervla Murphy

“Trying to interview Dervla Murphy is like trying to open an oyster … with a wet bus ticket.” That line came from the 2010 documentary, Who is Dervla Murphy, about the intrepid Irish travel writer. In 2003, I’d hoped to go to Ireland to interview the...
Ballad of Pat Tillman, Metro newspapers

Ballad of Pat Tillman, Metro newspapers

The football star–turned–soldier became the Pentagon’s poster boy, and when he was shot dead by U.S. Army Rangers, the military said he was killed by enemy fire. The deception, it turns out, was not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern of keeping the...
Mongolia’s Nadaam Games, Washington Post

Mongolia’s Nadaam Games, Washington Post

When President Nixon visited China in 1972, he said that it takes a great people to build a Great Wall. In Mongolia they countered: It takes an even greater people to make them want to build it. That warrior pride is on full display at the Naadam festival. Read the...
Nevada City’s enviro film fest

Nevada City’s enviro film fest

A certain magic happens when the right event is held in a town that embraces it. Setting an environmental film fest in Nevada City is an alchemical pairing that brings out the best in the Gold Country town. With its rich prospecting history, 19th-century Victorian...