Conversation with Jane Baker: Working Assets San Francisco 12/08/08 My first acquaintance with Jane Baker came at a dinner party at a friend's house. I left with a strong impression that stayed with me, but a year was to pass before we met again. That happened thanks to Leigh Hyams who was in town for an exhibit of her own work at Meridian Gallery. A couple of days after Leigh's opening, the three of us got together for breakfast at Jane's house. It was one of those memorable occasions when conversation flows almost magically from one wonderful story into another. "You should visit her at her ... Feb 19, 2009, 19711 reads

A Conversation with Haricharan Das: In the Company of Saints Photo: R. Whittaker 11/20/09 Meeting Haricharan Das was one of those happy improbabilities you could never have made up. My wife had been reminding me for months that the paint on our house was peeling off and that if I didn't get on the ball and deal with it, we'd regret it. So finally I got online and looked at the Berkeley Parents' Network, a great resource for recommendations. I called a painter with rave reviews and a few days later, my doorbell rang. A tall man with a shaved head and olive complexion stood there smiling. He was ready to take a ... Jul 27, 2010, 46380 reads

A Conversation with Zilong Wang: Medicine Journey The quiet directness of Zilong Wang, his articulate, measured way of speaking and something so open about him makes an immediate impression. Who is this young man? If one is around Zilong very much at all, there’s soon no doubt that there’s something remarkable about him. As I got to know a little more about Zilong, I resolved very quickly to ask this young man for an interview before he left the Bay Area. I found it impossible not to think that what lay ahead for Zilong has promise for what I can only call the greater good. He accepted my proposal for an ... Feb 14, 2016, 13595 reads

Interview: Gail Needleman: Music Is Something You Do Gail Needleman taught music at Holy Names University in Oakland, California. Her work as a writer and teacher addressed the essential role of music in the moral and spiritual development of children. She received a Parsons Fellowship from the Library of Congress for research in American folk music, and is the co-creator of the American Folk Song Collection website, a pioneering online resource of American folk songs for teaching music to children. We met at her home in Oakland to talk about music...   Richard Whittaker:  How did music enter your life? What were ... Apr 16, 2012, 201106 reads

Kitchen Teachings: Conversation with Cherri Farrell At the time of this interview Cherri Farrell was teaching Consumer and Family Science at College Park High School in Pleasant Hill, California, a subject that used to be called "Home Economics." What I found so inspiring in our conversation is as true today as it was in 2010.—RW Farrell's curriculum is devoted largely to cooking and nutrition and it's also indirectly a support for math, reading and other academic subjects. But what's not an explicit part of the curriculum, and yet perhaps is the most important in Farrell's eyes, is the development of ... Nov 18, 2010, 14247 reads

Blood Brothers: The jagged boulders at the bottom of the snow-filled gully weren’t fully covered by the snow. They lay in a jumble, piled there by the receding glacier from the last ice age.  There was plenty of time to fully regard them as he accelerated towards them, approaching some terminal velocity, down the ice chute into which he’d been unceremoniously pitched, headlong. His mind didn’t think about them, really, these angular blocks, black against the snow’s white. It merely held them, turning the prospect over, like some mild curiosity.  This fall ... Nov 30, 2018, 4556 reads

Interview with Fredric Fierstein: An Outrageous Act The story leading up to this interview includes the influence of my having read Peter Kingsley's A Story Waiting to Pierce You. In his book, Kingsley hypothesizes that a mysterious figure, Abaris, traveled from Mongolia to Greece to meet Pythagoras. Abaris is mentioned in several ancient texts, usually carrying an arrow, a symbol of shamanic power.       A few years before having read Kingsley's book, I'd been bicycling around the Berkeley marina one day, when I was surprised to come upon a warrior archer astride a mythical beast that looked ... Feb 23, 2011, 69363 reads

Toward Inaccessible Places: A Conversation with Andre Enard photo - r. whittaker 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 ... May 18, 2008, 36925 reads

The Skittish Stallion:      Another story is about a horse. We couldn’t have bought this beautiful farm had we not been able to have some help. Well there was a great apartment in the top floor of the barn. So we advertised for someone who could help us with our 58 acres and they would have a place to live. We had pages of the names of all those who responded to our ad, and there was one couple that stood out. She had an agriculture degree in stable management. He had a horticulture degree. And they had this little baby, Shane. They would each be able to keep their day jobs and still ... Jul 6, 2008, 10289 reads

On Art and Mindfulness: An Excerpt... For the past several summers, Enrique Martínez Celaya has been teaching a painting workshop at Anderson Ranch in Colorado. Many of his students are unusually moved by the experience. And that’s not surprising.      While nearly everywhere style, entertainment and spectacle take center stage, the deep questions remain—acknowledged or not. For those who feel how little nourishment beguiling surfaces provide, there’s a hunger for contact with the deeper reaches of life—territory that traditionally has been the purview of art, philosophy ... Feb 7, 2016, 23226 reads