The Adventure Gap Tag

An American Ascent, Black In National Parks Week, Blackwaters, Books, Buffalo Soldiers, Denali, Expedition Denali, Fly Fishing, Madison, National Geographic, National Monuments, National Parks, Outdoors For All, The Adventure Gap, The Joy Trip Reading Project, Unhidden / 22.04.2024

Recently I had the pleasure of welcoming two special guests to Madison, Wisconsin. As we’re entering the last two weeks of instruction in my online course at Western Colorado University, one of my students, Melanie Hardin, reached out to let me know that she would be passing through town. Coincidentally, Brian Shellum, a renowned author of several books on the Buffalo Soldiers, happened to arrive on the same day. On a beautiful spring afternoon, I was excited to meet with them both in person for coffee and lunch...

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Adventure Activism, An American Ascent, Book Tour, Charitable Giving, Diversity, Kids in Nature, National Parks, Special Events, The Adventure Gap / 21.10.2015

For some reason I couldn’t get the song to play. After having spent hours getting the introduction just right I’d be damned if I was going to let the opening frames of this film presentation go without music. Trying not to panic I simply reconfigured the audio file from .AIFF to .MP3 and it played flawlessly. Jake Shimabukuro’s tune Dragon flowed in perfect sync with the animated text and the logos of the Madison-based nonprofit groups this screening of An American Ascent aimed to support. With a free...

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Commentary, Diversity / 13.05.2015

An awkward silence quickly grew to fill an interminable moment of sheer agony. The thunderous clicks of my own eyelids boomed in my ears as I stood there blinking back at her. There in the crowded lounge amongst the sounds of clinking glasses and casual conversation I sighed quietly in frustration. Through clinched teeth I forced a smile and searched my mind for a politic answer to her question. As the seconds ticked past without a reply it’s possible she thought I hadn’t heard her. She asked again,...

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Book Tour, Commentary, Life Out Loud, The Adventure Gap / 11.03.2015

[caption id="attachment_2062934" align="aligncenter" width="603"] On the trail with a crew of young men led by Big City Mountaineers ~ 2003[/caption]   March 11, 2015 Next stop Burlington, Vermont. Now that I'm finishing up the last leg of The Adventure Gap college book tour a few of the students I've had the opportunity to connect with are reaching out with letters and comments. It's very exciting to know that the work I am doing has begun to resonate with young people around the country and I am very eager to engage in...

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Commentary, Diversity, Environmental Justice, The Adventure Gap / 07.03.2015

I sometimes struggle to clearly define exactly what I mean when I talk about The Adventure Gap. The book I wrote of the same title details several specific examples of African-American women and men who had overcome their fear and apprehension to cross the divide between where they were and where they most wanted to be, to venture anywhere their hearts desired. Today most of the barriers that prevent us from achieving our full potential are in our minds. We often talk ourselves out of doing things that...

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Book Tour, Commentary, The Adventure Gap / 28.02.2015

The Jetta rolled to a stop near the curb just outside of baggage claim at Dane County Regional Airport. Through the salt stained windshield my wife’s beaming smile shined bright as the sun. After a week of travel I couldn’t have been happier to see her as suddenly a song from my childhood came streaming through my mind. “Whenever I see your smiling face, I have to smile myself because I love you, yes, I do.” The James Taylor tune put a bounce in my step as I tossed my...

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