Interview: Juan Negrin: A Life of Service to the Huichol Juan Negrín was a top student at Yale in the late 1960s, but just before graduation he abandoned his studies to come to the Bay Area where a cultural revolution was in full swing. Negrín’s background is unusual. His grandfather was the Spanish President driven from power by Franco’s forces in 1939. His father married an American woman and Negrín was born in Mexico City. With an inherited bent for political action, Negrín was soon a participant in the Viet Nam protests in Berkeley and the volatile atmosphere of the 1960s. By 1970 ... Aug 2, 2001, 38155 reads

Magic Flute: A Conversation with Marvin Sanders I met Marvin Sanders during a film festival at Berkeley Art Center. At the time, Sanders ran the Sunday evening music series there. On the first evening of film screening, Sanders was there to help at the front desk. Chatting with him, I discovered he plays the flute.      "Jazz?" I asked.      "You say that because I’m black, don’t you?" he replied.         I was taken aback, but realized I’d been offered an opening to a deeper level of conversation. I admitted he was right ... Apr 2, 2007, 36736 reads

Two Jewelers of New Mexico: Interview: Rod & Andree Moen, Jemez Springs, New Mexico Last August my wife and I were in Jemez Springs, about an hour west of Santa Fe, for a family get-together. After a few days of family catching up, I started exploring the local scene with the intention of striking up a few conversations with locals. I’ve seen over and over how, with just a few questions and an attitude of sincere listening, amazing worlds can open up. The interview here is the result of going against the uneasiness of striking up conversation with strangers.   It wasn’t more than five minutes after walking into the little gallery, ... Mar 6, 2008, 36719 reads

Leah Pearlman - Inspiring Happiness in Our World: If you ever have the opportunity to meet Leah Pearlman, one of the first things that you might notice is her glow, illuminating from within. In this interview, Leah, the creator of Dharma Comics and the co-founder of the Happiness Institute in San Francisco, California, shares her inner journey.  She reveals how she was able to move away from a highly coveted position with Facebook, and the deep introspection that led her to co-create a physical space that encourages the cultivation and deepening of our individual and collective happiness.  Her story and insights ... May 7, 2012, 36374 reads

A Conversation with Jim Barton: A Certain Mathematics I turned off the street onto a dirt road leading down a sharp drop into wooded bottomland. Along the road I began to see carved statuary: buddhas, cranes and tree trunks with a bas relief of salmon heading skyward. I knew I'd arrived at Jim Barton's property. Up ahead I caught sight of a large tent with open sides - Barton's work area. It was filled with carvings in various states of finish: statuary, table tops, carved doors and a wide miscellany other pieces along with massive slabs of redwood that Barton salvages himself with his monster chain saw.      ... Nov 25, 2008, 36351 reads

Toward Inaccessible Places: A Conversation with Andre Enard The three of us sat at Jane Rosen’s dining room table in her home perched atop a ridge near the beach at San Gregorio in Northern California. Through a wide expanse of glass, the sweep of the coastal hills with their native redwood, oak, bay and madrone lay before us.      We had just finished dinner. The fresh salad, with locally grown tomatoes and greens, included slices of mozzarella “not as good as in New York,” Jane said, a claim I’d have to take on faith. We all agreed the interview could wait until after our meal, but now the time had ... May 18, 2008, 35828 reads

Music Outside the Music Box: Interview: Cheryl Leonard by Mary Stein, SF, October 15, 2010 photo - r. whittaker I first met Cheryl Leonard more than ten years ago when she joined the martial arts dojo I belonged to and began practicing aikido with us there.  She caught on to aikido quickly, and I soon learned that she was already an experienced rock climber, often leading weekend expeditions into the mountains.  A little later I learned that she was a musician and composer with an unusual interest in making music with pine cones, feathers, sea shells, bones or any other of the myriad objects she found on her excursions into nature. Since then ... Feb 23, 2011, 35412 reads

A Conversation with Tom Leddy: Is This A Garden? San Jose State University 11/21/99 At the time of our conversation, Tom Leddy was Acting Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at San Jose State University. He specializes in the philosophy of art and aesthetics. A former member of the Board of Trustees of the American Society for Aesthetics, Leddy, has published numerous articles in such publications as the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, the British Journal of Aesthetics, Philosophy Today, Journal of Value and Inquiry, and the Journal of Aesthetic Education. His work on gardens is discussed in the article on gardens in The Enclyclopedia of ... Sep 21, 2000, 34830 reads

Steve Karlin and Susie Bear: Over the past year Pavi Mehta, Chris Johnnidis and I have been visiting a wildlife sanctuary in Half Moon Bay to listen to and record the remarkable animal stories and personal journey of founder, Steve Karlin. Sitting on his back porch one day last spring, Steve casually alerted us to the piercing cries of a young red-tailed hawk above and motioned us, mid-sentence, to look beyond the fence at a bobcat moving stealthily in the tall grass. To be in Steve’s company is to be reminded that the vast play of nature is all around us, and visible if only we cultivate our ears ... Nov 22, 2013, 34640 reads

Interview: Jacob Needleman: Art & Philosophy, Oakland, CA 11/21/00 photo - r. whittaker I visited Jacob Needleman at his home. We sat out on his deck in the sun and talked...      Richard Whittaker:  Not too long ago I heard Lobsang Rapgay, a psychologist and Tibetan Buddhist from Los Angeles speak. One thing he talked about was "a tremendous fatigue of thinking in the West that prevents us from thinking aesthetically." He said this way of thinking makes it possible "to transform a numinous experience and share it"... To be shared, he said, "it has to be transformed in a way that someone ... Sep 21, 2004, 34442 reads