D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
July
2008
Editors Note
Page: 2You'd think that such outbursts would upset us, but we know — from looking at this year's survey — that they're far outweighed by the positive reactions of the overwhelming majority of readers. Typical of those survey responses was this simple but eloquent note from a reader in Cliff: "Thank you for being here, Desert Exposure!"
No, thank you, readers, for being here every month, and for all your responses to our survey.
Our New Southwest Storyteller
This month we're introducing a new column that you can rate and react to on next year's survey. "Southwest Storylines" is based on the premise that every person and place has a story, and the column will seek to share those tales of the people and locales of our part of the Southwest. Unlike most of our columns, which tend to be clustered near the front or back of each issue, Southwest Storylines will "float" from issue to issue, reflecting its wide-ranging subject matter and the varied interests of columnist Richard Mahler. This issue, for instance, Richard launches the column with an in-depth profile of local photographer Michael Berman, the recent recipient of a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. To give us the room to also show a sampling of Berman's work, Southwest Storylines debuts among the features in our B section. Subsequent columns may be found as well everywhere from Arts Exposure to the Body, Mind & Spirit sections — look for the signature Southwest Storylines logo shown here.
This somewhat unconventional treatment springs from a desire not to hem in the talents of columnist Richard Mahler, who brings an eye-popping resume to our pages. Richard is the author of 11 books, several of which have focused on his favorite state, including New Mexico's Best, Santa Fe Memories and Insiders' Guide: Santa Fe. Another book, Stillness, documents the three winter months he spent living alone in a remote cabin in mountains near the Colorado border. Most recently, Richard wrote The Jaguar's Shadow: Searching for a Mythic Cat, to be published by Yale University Press in 2009.
As a freelance writer, Richard's byline has appeared in publications including New Mexico Magazine, Santa Fean, Native Artist, New Mexico Journeys, Santa Fe New Mexican, Eldorado Sun, Santa Fe Reporter, Albuquerque Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Arizona Highways, Tucson Weekly and New Mexico Business Journal. From 2000 to 2004, he wrote the "Un Poco de Todo" feature column for the Albuquerque Journal — a roving report of interesting people and places not unlike his hopes for Southwest Storylines — and the "Letter from Santa Fe" for Albuquerque-based Crosswinds. His radio reporting about New Mexico has been heard on National Public Radio, National Native News, KUNM, KSFR, CBS, Public Radio International and the Voice of America.
Richard says he is "bound to New Mexico by blood and brain." Although he was born in Texas and raised in California, his kin go back three generations in the Land of Enchantment. He adds, "They've dug potash in Carlsbad, designed houses in Santa Fe, drilled for oil outside Roswell, grown apples near San Patricio, and designed disk drives in Socorro. "
He began living fulltime in New Mexico in 1988, when he bought one of the last affordable dwellings in Santa Fe, he says. We're delighted that he now calls Silver City home. When not writing, Richard says he likes to fix up the old house he shares here with his partner, Stacey Austin, a naturopathic doctor. He loves to hike in the Gila, garden in the backyard, and lead walking tours of the historic district.
You can learn more about our newest columnist at www.RichardMahler.com — after, please, you flip to the B section and enjoy his inaugural Southwest Storylines column.
David A. Fryxell is editor of Desert Exposure.