How libraries are like coral reefs.
Author Archives: David
Words and Walls
A blog post from Inside Higher Ed about misguided policy, fear and the power of kindness.
The Heroic Reef
The corals of Varadero have endured five hundred years of human conflict, but they may not survive Colombia’s fragile peace.
Five books that helped me survive 2016
Five books that I read in the past year that changed the way I think.
In post-fact America, stories still win
A blog post from Inside Higher Ed about how we can fight the decidedly un-enlightened vision of the incoming regime.
Back to Burgundy – Three Days of Glory
Heading back to Burgundy to make a film about a tough year and a great wine celebration.
A visual storyteller’s guide to active consumption
How to keep yourself on the active side of the consumption equation.
Plunder on the Spanish Main
Feeling like a pirate leaving Cartagena not with a ship full of stolen Spanish plunder, but with a treasure of stories of the people working to save a small piece of of threatened reef.
What to read this summer: recommendations from writers who teach
A pair of fiction writers and teachers offer their summer reading picks.
Zester Daily – Burgundians dig deep to face climate change
I returned to Burgundy for the first time since writing my novel Vintage.
From disaster cassoulet to La Belle Époque
Within the span of a single day, I recently experienced the best and worst French meals of my life.
Small wine clubs
How and why to join a small wine club or two.
Libraries are awesome
“I’m waiting to check your book out at the library,” someone once told me. I wanted to tell him to just go out and buy it. But I didn’t. And I’m glad. Here’s why.
Home for the holidays
Some food, travel and social notes from holidays in Central Europe.
Balancing career and calling: insights from three writers
Balancing writing and literary careers can be precarious and challenging. Here three writers give their take on how they wrangle a “bi-vocational” existence.
Eating Poisson Cru in the tropics
Poisson Cru is French for raw fish. But as the local Mo’orean who told us about the best restaurant that serves it says, “the only thing French about it is the name.” It’s the traditional dish of the Society Islands, and much of Polynesia. We tried it in a restaurant run by a woman named Irene who, weContinue reading “Eating Poisson Cru in the tropics”
Sacred places
I return from a trip away to learn about the mass shooting in Roseburg. A classroom full of beautiful people. A writing class, no less. Everyone has their sacred places. Writing classes rank highly among mine.
Creating a life in wine
It’s rare when you find someone who has figured out exactly what he wants to be when he grows up and then take that extra step to actually make it happen. But Scott Wright is one of those people.
Three books to read in celebration of Véraison
You’ve heard about summer reading lists, but what about books to celebrate véraison? Here’s my take on them.
Stewed Rabbits, Guinea Pigs and the Eye of Mordor
What hobbits can teach us about the miracle of cooking, and why carrying two pans in your backpack is the ultimate symbol of hope.
