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NonfictionMemoir

Connie

With candor and humor, Connie Chung shares the highs and lows of her trailblazing career as a journalist in her invigorating memoir, Connie.
With candor and humor, Connie Chung shares the highs and lows of her trailblazing career as a journalist in her invigorating memoir, Connie.
NonfictionMemoirLGBTQ+

Frighten the Horses

Oliver Radclyffe’s Frighten the Horses is a powerful standout among the burgeoning subgenre of gender transition memoirs.
Oliver Radclyffe’s Frighten the Horses is a powerful standout among the burgeoning subgenre of gender transition memoirs.
NonfictionMemoir

Health and Safety

Emily Witt’s sharp, deeply personal memoir, Health and Safety, invites us to relive a tumultuous era in American history through the eyes of a keen observer.
Emily Witt’s sharp, deeply personal memoir, Health and Safety, invites us to relive a tumultuous era in American history through the eyes of a keen observer.
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Cookbooks

Paula Deen

Interview by Martin Brady

Paula Deen may be a walking food – and – entertainment conglomerate, but success hasn't dimmed her sincerely charming and caring ways. "I always remain true to my roots," says Deen from her home in Savannah, Georgia. "God has been very good to me."

Once a single mom with a simple entrepreneurial idea, Deen launched a box lunch and catering service in Savannah in the early 1990s, assisted by her sons, Jamie and Bobby. A popular local restaurant, The Lady and Sons, followed, as did self-published cookbooks that helped spread the word about Deen's Southern "comfort food" cuisine. Then came an Emmy Award-winning Food Network television program, "Paula's Home Cooking," more cookbooks, appearances on "Oprah" and other talk shows, a role in the 2005 feature film Elizabethtown and, in 2007, publication of a memoir, It Ain't All About the Cookin', which told of Deen's triumph over hardships and disappointments and her amazing emergence as a celebrity. In the midst of all the show biz, Deen remarried in 2004, to a Savannah tugboat pilot named Michael Groover. Deen, 61, has a bigger-than-life persona and a sharp drawl that almost projects deep-fried caricature. Yet when she's speaking about the importance of home and family – and the kitchen as the hub of cycle-of-life activity – she comes off as the real deal.

Her new book, Paula Deen's My First Cookbook, is her first for children."It blew me away to find what a large audience I have among the children," says Deen. "Maybe it's because I get silly, I giggle a lot and I like to have fun. You have to make it entertaining. And I probably remind them of someone in their lives that loves them very much – a mother, an aunt, a grandmother. But I've never targeted any audience in particular. To me, it's just about bringing family into the room."

Co-authored with Martha Nesbit and featuring infinitely charming illustrations by Susan Mitchell, Deen's heartwarming new cookbook features recipes for dozens of yummy main – course dishes, sandwiches, salads, soups, snacks, desserts and holiday treats, plus drinks for all-year-round, tasty surprises for mom and dad and a final section on kitchen arts and crafts ("Don't Eat These!"). Each recipe is explained plainly and clearly – just right for savvier older children who want to figure it out for themselves. Yet this is a book ideally pitched to parents, older relatives and friends or caregivers, who can share in the preparations, patiently supervise the creativity and be the "adult helper" who needs to be ever – present whenever youngsters are near cutlery or hot stovetops and ovens. "My granddaddy," says Deen wistfully, "God love him. He taught me how to make gravy – clumpy and thick like wallpaper paste – and he had the patience to let me get in there with him. It's important for kids to be in the kitchen and for us to teach them to do simple things. That's a self-esteem builder. And they see the product of their work. They're proud of what they've done, and they're trying something they might otherwise have turned their noses up at."

Besides Mitchell's colorful and quaint drawings of kitchen utensils, ingredients, finished dishes and a pair of cartoon kids who prepare them (and eat them!), the book features chapter-head snapshots of Deen and her devoted sons through the years. The elementary school picture of a pixieish Paula, age nine, is adorable.

"I didn't really cook as a young girl," says Deen. "I was too busy. I had a social life and was always active. A couple of times I remember saying, 'Mama, let me cook!' Reluctantly, she would say OK. Then, later, she'd say, 'Paula, honey, you have to leave now.' I married young, and I couldn't even boil water. Then I fell in love with it. It's in the genes, maybe?"

Deen's favorite recipe in the new book is the Cinnamon Rolls. It's a surprising choice, given that more complicated dishes stand out, like the Porcupine Balls, the Sausage Quiche or the Hawaiian Beef Teriyaki Kebabs with Grilled Pineapple. On the other hand, there's something that says simplicity and kid – friendliness about crescent rolls stuffed with marshmallows and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

"Cooking is about memories," says Deen, "and that is so important. We relate that to a time in our lives that is carefree and safe, when there wasn't a bad world out there. Cooking connects you to those times. I think 9/11 played a big part in jogging memories about family times and kitchen times. Some of our safest times were in Granny's or Mama's kitchen … back when daddies and granddaddies were our heroes."

Paula Deen may be a walking food – and – entertainment conglomerate, but success hasn't dimmed her sincerely charming and caring ways. "I always remain true to my roots," says Deen from her home in Savannah, Georgia. "God has been very good to me." Once a single mom with a simple entrepreneurial idea, Deen launched […]
Biography

M.G. Lord

Interview by Cat, Deputy Editor

Elizabeth Taylor may be best remembered for her physical appearance—her curves, her eyes, her weight gain in later life—but M.G. Lord's new book, The Accidental Feminist, explores how Taylor's films contributed to a sexual and social revolution without anyone taking much notice.

Even as the world was consumed with her private life and sexuality, Elizabeth Taylor's onscreen presence was being used by the writers and directors behind her films to challenge the Production Code's censorship and address subversive issues such as abortion and prostitution, long before she became an activist in her own right. Lord anaylzes Taylor's life through seven of her most memorable film roles to reveal a fresh side to the icon, giving us us a whole new reason to revisit Taylor's classic movies.

The one-year anniversary of Taylor's passing is approaching (March 23). In your opinion, what is her greatest legacy?

Taylor's greatest legacy is unquestionably her leadership at a crucial time in the fight against AIDS. That leadership, however, was made possible by her extraordinary celebrity, a byproduct of her film career.  

Your discovery of Taylor's accidental feminism began during a Taylor marathon with two generations of friends. How did watching with other generations change how you viewed the movies?

I was born at the end of the baby boom, so I had at least a child's vague awareness of Taylor in her heyday. My Gen X friends, however, mostly knew her in a later incarnation, as the butt of Joan Rivers' fat jokes in the 1980s. My Gen Y friends only knew her as a gay icon and AIDS philanthropist.

My friends and I thought that watching the boxed sets of Taylor movies that I had received as a gift would lead to a night of guilty, campy pleasure. Instead we were blown away, by both the quality of Taylor's performances and the feminist messages hammered home in film after film. They enabled me to see the films with fresh eyes and to recognize the feminist content that had been hidden in plain sight.

"Taylor fought consciously—not accidentally—for social justice. Her final role in life, I believe, was influenced by the movies with feminist content that she had starred in as a younger woman."

Many of Taylor's early films, such as National Velvet, contributed to Taylor's "accidental feminism," since her presence in these films was more a reach for stardom than any conscious attempt to present a positive image for women on film. At what point do you believe Taylor transitioned from accidental feminism to intentional feminism?

As columnist Katha Pollitt has observed, feminism "is a social justice movement." As an AIDS activist from 1985 until her death, Taylor fought consciously—not accidentally—for social justice. Her final role in life, I believe, was influenced by the movies with feminist content that she had starred in as a younger woman. Actors both shape and are shaped by their parts. They bring aspects of themselves to their characters and they take aspects of their characters away.

George Stevens, who directed Taylor in A Place in the Sun and Giant, saw qualities in Taylor as a teenager that she had not yet recognized in herself—strength and courage and a willingness to defy social convention that would serve her well when she began raising money to combat AIDS.

This is evident, for example, in Taylor's part in Giant. Taylor's character, Leslie Benedict, makes common cause with the sick. She steps away from her privileged community—the white Texas ranching elite—to serve a community of outsiders, the Mexican workers. Although she is warned not to enter the Mexican homes, she does so anyway. And when she finds an ailing child, she cradles him. She doesn't pull back, fearing contagion, just as Taylor herself did not recoil from people with HIV. She demands medical attention from the privileged community's physician.

Leslie forces the doctor to acknowledge the humanity—and the suffering—of outsiders. She stands up to bigotry. She risks being ostracized. And in that brave moment, she leads the doctor—just as Taylor herself would lead a callous nation—to do the right thing.

If you could recommend just one of Taylor's films, which would it be and why?

I don't think a single movie captures all of Taylor's facets—or all of the aspects of feminism that her projects have addressed. I would narrow her vast filmography to the seven movies I concentrate on in the book. If pressured to narrow to, say, three movies, they would be Giant (in which her character's commitment to social justice anticipates her real-life AIDS activism), Butterfield 8 (in which her character is censured because she controls her sexuality, a core feminist tenet) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (because, among other things, it was the film that put the Production Code Administration censors out of business forever).

Camille Paglia, after Taylor's passing, said in an interview with Salon, "To me, Elizabeth Taylor's importance as an actress was that she represented a kind of womanliness that is now completely impossible to find on the U.S. or U.K. screen." Do you agree? Is there is any actress today who can compare to Taylor?

The movie industry has changed dramatically since Taylor's day. Studio movies are mostly made for teenagers now. Grown-up drama intended for grown-up viewers appears primarily on episodic cable TV. With this has come a thinning of the movie audience and a dilution of the power and influence of big-screen stars. As a consequence, I don't think any contemporary male or female actor can compare with Taylor.

How do you define where feminism is today versus during Taylor's time? How has its depiction in film changed?

I think Taylor's brand of feminism would fit right in with the so-called "third-wave" that evolved in the early 1990s. Third wave feminism emphases cultural diversity and a commitment to social justice. Younger feminists have also made a practice of re-appropriating pioneering cultural icons from the past. I hope they will come to embrace Taylor—or at least explore that possibility by reading my book.

You talked to a lot of interesting people for Accidental Feminist. Do you have a favorite interview, or a most memorable interview moment?

I loved meeting the late actor Kevin McCarthy—not only for his insights about Taylor but also because his sister, the novelist Mary McCarthy, was one of my role models when I was growing up.

My favorite interview, however, was with Gore Vidal. We talked about his adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly, Last Summer. The Production Code, a set of rules that severely restricted the content of American movies between 1934 and 1967, prohibited any representation of homosexuality on screen. Many directors caved to this proscription; the film adaptation of Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, for instance, makes absolutely no sense. The play was about a gay man's refusal to sleep with his beautiful wife because he was in love with his dead best friend. The movie is about a man who for no conceivable reason refuses to sleep with Elizabeth Taylor—a situation that Williams, a gay man who said he himself would "bounce the springs" with Taylor, found beyond absurd.

In contrast, Suddenly, Last Summer retains the homosexuality Williams alluded to in his play. This is because Gore Vidal met with a priest every other week while he was working on the adaptation and convinced the priest that the movie could be interpreted as a "moral fable." In the interview, Vidal told me how he achieved this.

What have you learned from studying Taylor's life?

From looking at Taylor's movies, I got a frightening glimpse of a recent past in which rights we take for granted—abortion, interracial marriage and certain sexual acts in private between consenting adults—were against the law. The Production Code also forbade the depiction of such things as interracial marriage on film. I hope my book motivates younger people to watch these harrowing movies—and to help ensure that these hard-won rights are not taken away.

Your books have covered Barbies, life in the 1990s, American masculinity in the space program and now feminism in film. What's next?

For the first 12 years of my career—between my graduation from Yale and the publication of Forever Barbie—I was a syndicated political cartoonist based at Newsday. I fled the job because I grew to dislike working at a newspaper. But recently I've found that I missed drawing. For my next project, I am collaborating with a neuroscientist, Dr. Indre Viskontas, on a graphic novel that deals with the brain. I'm also learning to use drawing software—Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and a Wacom Cintiq tablet. The learning curve is steep. These days to be a cartoonist one also needs to be a software engineer. But I love this difficulty, because an all-consuming challenge can take an author's mind off the vicissitudes of publication. In my view, the best way to survive the publication of one book is to immerse yourself in the making of a fresh one.

Elizabeth Taylor may be best remembered for her physical appearance—her curves, her eyes, her weight gain in later life—but M.G. Lord's new book, The Accidental Feminist, explores how Taylor's films contributed to a sexual and social revolution without anyone taking much notice. Even as the world was consumed with her private life and sexuality, Elizabeth […]
Self-Help

Charles Duhigg

Interview by Stephenie Harrison

In his breakthrough bestseller, The Power of Habit, New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg uses science to pull back the curtain on some of our most mystifying behaviors—and reveals how we can change them.

When you get down to it, it seems like a lot of the time we're pretty oblivious about why we do the things we do! Why do you think this is?

When a habit takes hold, something interesting happens within our brain: activity moves from the prefrontal cortex (where decision-making occurs) to the basal ganglia (one of the oldest parts of the brain, where automatic patterns are stored). In a sense, we stop thinking when we're in the grip of a habit—and so as a result, it often feels like we're acting without realizing what is going on.

Yet that doesn't mean that these behaviors are out of our control. In the last 15 years, scientists have learned an enormous amount about how habits work. Once you understand how to take a habit apart, how to fiddle with its gears, you learn how to design behavioral patterns and take control of these automatic habits.

You say there are certain "keystone habits" that, if changed, can change a person's life. How do you identify these habits?

Keystone habits influence how we work, eat, play, live, spend and communicate. They start a process that, over time, transforms everything. Identifying keystone habits, however, is tricky. Most keystone habits create daily victories—what are known within psychology as the “science of small wins.” So to identify the keystone habits in your life, look for those patterns that give you numerous, small senses of victory; places where momentum can start to build.

"No matter how old someone is, or how ingrained the behavior, it can be shifted once they start analyzing the cues and rewards."

You cite evidence that the brains of people who suffer from certain purportedly uncontrollable habits (e.g., gambling or alcoholism) differ from those who don't. Many people would likely say that our brains determine behavior, but to what extent do you think behavior can change the brain?

The brain is incredibly plastic—it is constantly changing as we expose ourselves to different stimuli and engage in different behaviors. One of the things that we've learned from laboratory experiments is that no habit is destiny. Every behavioral pattern can be changed. No matter how old someone is, or how ingrained the behavior, it can be shifted once they start analyzing the cues and rewards. And once we start behaving differently, our brains start to shift.

Your book explains how companies have used insight into the ways habits work to exploit target markets. Is awareness of things like Target's couponing strategies enough, or are there other techniques shoppers can use in order to make sure they're only buying what they need/want?

I don't know if awareness is sufficient protection, but it's a great place to start. One of the defenses that companies offer is that by studying habits, they can anticipate their customers' needs better. Indeed, when I was reporting on Target's use of habit studies to predict which customers were pregnant, my wife and I were expecting our second child. Lo and behold, we started receiving coupons for diapers and formula and a crib. And I was overjoyed: I really needed a crib! It was great to get a coupon that was so useful!

So, awareness is a great defense—but so is appreciating the usefulness of companies understanding our habits. From one perspective, it might be an invasion of privacy. From another, it’s helping me get the coupons I need at just the right time.

In his breakthrough bestseller, The Power of Habit, New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg uses science to pull back the curtain on some of our most mystifying behaviors—and reveals how we can change them. When you get down to it, it seems like a lot of the time we're pretty oblivious about why we do […]
Animals

Marty Becker

Interview by Trisha Ping

 

Dr. Marty Becker, "America's Veterinarian," is the popular veterinary contributor to ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" and the resident veterinarian on "The Dr. Oz Show," where he is also the only veterinary member of the Dr. Oz Medical Advisory Board. He is also the lead veterinary expert for VetStreet.com and the author of a brand new book, Your Cat: The Owner's Manual. In it, he explains some of the most common feline mysteries and teaches cat owners what they need to know to keep their pet happy and healthy with advice on everything from treats to toys to litter box mishaps.

BookPage editors Kate Pritchard and Trisha Ping took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about their own cats' more unusual habits. 

 

Trisha: Sometimes when my cats (Walter, 3, and Willie, 7) groom each other, the licks turn to ear bites and a little bit of wrestling. Why is that? I thought mutual grooming was a sign of affection.
Cats are easily overstimulated, and some have more of  hair-trigger than others. We’ve all known cats who turned “mean” during a petting session, especially when tickled on their bellies. The reaction is fleeting, typically: They grab with teeth and claws but often never press in to hurt. It’s more of a “Wow! Stop that! It tickles!” reaction, and I suspect that’s part of the interaction between your cats. 

 

 

Trisha's cats, Willie and Walter

 

Trisha: Walter has been known to occasionally spend his evenings running around the house like a wild thing, emitting weird noises and periodically climbing the doorframes or bouncing off the sides of furniture. Why does he do this? Is there a way to prevent this behavior, or should I just sign him up for Parkour classes?
Classic Kitty Crazies! Cats are night hunters, equipped with senses that allow them to track rodents in low-light conditions (cats don’t need goggles for superior night vision: They are born with it!). Dusk and early evening is when the mousies come out for dinner, and that means cats do, too. With no mice around to stalk, your cat still has energy to burn.

 

Walter burns off some energy

 

Channel that energy into activities that are fun for you both, such as playing an interactive toy such as a “fishing pole” or a laser pointer.  Cats aren’t endurance runners; they’re sprinters. Once your cat gets the crazies out of his system, he’ll be into his next cat nap.

Trisha: I have heard that it is not healthy to play with one cat while the other is watching and doing nothing. Do you agree with this assessment? If so, do you have any suggestions for how one person can play with two cats at the same time? Should I shut Walter in a different part of the house when I play with Willie, and vice versa?
It depends on the cats. Some cats share and some cats don’t. If yours don’t mind sharing you while you play, they’re no harm.  If play sessions lead to fights, though, then it probably is best to separate for play sessions.

 

 

Kate's cats, Worthington and Chesterfield

 

Kate: My husband and I have two cats, both male. Worthington is nine years old and Chesterfield is not quite two. We introduced them slowly, but a year and a half later they still have the occasional serious-sounding fight. Worthington, who is a little high-strung, is almost always the aggressor. I don’t believe they have ever really injured one another, but the fights worry me. What can we do?
Given enough time, most cats will eventually learn to at least tolerate each other, but there will always be some who won’t. For the cats who won’t interact, it’s perfectly fine to allow them to establish their own territories with separate food, water and litter-box arrangements. It’s not even uncommon to do so: I’ve known more than a few cat-lovers with “upstairs cats” and “downstairs cats.”

Other cats will happily share space as long as they don’t have to share litterboxes—general guidelines say one litterbox per cat, plus one more to avoid messy conflicts over potty space. Other resources such as food can additionally be a source of conflict.

Yours may be as blended as they will ever be, or you might be able to fully integrate them by backing up a little.  Before you start, take them to your veterinarian to be sure there are no physical issues in either cat. Illness can make anyone cranky, and you’ll to resolve and health problems before you deal with problem behavior.

 

Worthington doesn't seem too happy with his sofa companion!

 

To ease the stress levels, add Feliway to your home environment. This pheromone mimics the soothing smell given off by nursing mothers, and it’s so effective that we used it for the cover shoot of Your Cat: The Owner’s Manual to help our feline models relax and get along. I use so much Feliway when working with cats in practice that my family jokes that it’s my most popular aftershave! For your situation, try it in a whole-house diffuser.

You should also establish separate areas for litter box, food and water, and sleeping. These may need to be permanent.

Allow your cats to avoid each other or interact as they choose, with no forcing them together.  When they seem to have settled into their territories, you can experiment with moving their dishes slowly and gradually closer together, or by playing active games such a with a cat “fishing pole” or laser pointer. The idea is that sharing good experiences makes the cats more likely to enjoy being with each other.

Your cats may never interact like a closely bonded pair, but they likely will be able to cohabitate with little conflict if they’re more relaxed and comfortable. Beyond that, time will tell. If you find the situation getting worse or just plain intolerable, check in with your veterinarian for a referral to a behaviorist.

Kate: For the hour or so immediately preceding breakfast and dinner, Chesterfield will not stop chirping and meowing loudly and plaintively for his food. It’s making us crazy, especially in the mornings. I feel fairly certain that we are feeding him an adequate amount of food. How can we get him to keep quiet as mealtimes approach? We’re about to have a baby, so this question has taken on extra importance!
Switch to food puzzles! It’s not natural to eat twice a day (or worse: To have an open Kitty Buffet leading to obesity) for cats and dogs. These are animals designed to spend their waking hours finding their own meals, and working for their food. 

You can turn your cat back into the hunter he was born to be by purchasing a variety of a new generation of toys that are designed to be filled with food that a pet can’t get to unless he works out how with his brain and his body. Introduce your cat to these puzzles by showing how to roll or otherwise manipulate them to get kibble out, and then may the game harder by placing them in gradually more difficult places, such as in the cubby of the cat tree.

Your cat will be mentally and physically more satisfied because of these challenges you’ve introduced, and the pestering should end because your cat is no longer relying on you to “dish it out.”

Kate: Chesterfield has suddenly discovered that the kitchen counter is where the food comes from, and he now jumps up there regularly. We chase him off and sometimes spray him with a water bottle when we catch him up there, but so far nothing has deterred him. How can we stop him from getting up on the counters?
Teach yourself to keep food off the counter, at least while you’re raising or training your cat. If your cat gets rewarded with a nibble every few times he gets on the counter, that reinforces the behavior very strongly. So first, remove the rewards.

 

Chesterfield enjoys perching on the sink as well

 

 

With the rewards gone, turn the countertop into an unwelcome environment by putting cardboard covered with double-sided tape, sticky side up. Cats hate to have their paws stick to anything, and they’ll avoid an area that’s sticky.

Don’t punish your cat in any way that associates you with the penalty—it can damage your relationship with your pet. Use a squirt bottle in a sneaky way, so your cat associates the counter with the shot of water, not you.

If you’re patient and consistent, your cat should eventually decide the counter just isn’t a great place to be.

 

 

  Dr. Marty Becker, "America's Veterinarian," is the popular veterinary contributor to ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" and the resident veterinarian on "The Dr. Oz Show," where he is also the only veterinary member of the Dr. Oz Medical Advisory Board. He is also the lead veterinary expert for VetStreet.com and the author of a brand new […]
Memoir

Lance Armstrong

Interview by bookpagedev

Hoping to repeat last year's Tour de France win, Lance Armstrong is currently in France training for the three-week, 2,300-mile bike ride around the circumference of France. He recently answered questions for BookPage.

BookPage: You have proven you can win races. You have proven you can beat cancer. What is left for you to prove?

Lance Armstrong: First of all, I didn't "beat cancer, I survived it. Nobody beats cancer. It's a very tough, very humbling disease and it doesn't discriminate. You can do everything your doctor tells you, eat all the right foods, and still die from it, while the guy who smokes and doesn't listen to his doctor is somehow spared. I was very, very lucky. As far as what's left for me to prove, there are plenty of things. I'd like to prove I can win the Tour de France again, and be a consistent champion. But I'm just as interested in the more open ended questions. I'd like to prove I can make a real difference with my cancer foundation. And I'd like to prove I'm a good husband and father.

Do you still feel part of the cancer community? Is it more important for you to get on with your life and your racing or to offer encouragement to other cancer patients?

Once you are a part of the cancer community you never leave. It's not a matter of getting on with my life cancer is part of my life and always will be. Why would I walk away from the most important thing that ever happened to me? I really believe that whatever my life is today, I owe to cancer. There's no question in my mind that I wouldn't have won the Tour without the cancer experience, because it made me a tougher and more patient cyclist. I think I'm a better person overall because of it, more thoughtful, more compassionate, more responsible.

When you were diagnosed with cancer, you sold your expensive car and felt a need to simplify your life. Do you still feel that need?

Well, obviously not, since I have a new Porsche on order. The reason I sold my old one was because I didn't have any health insurance, and I thought it would take every dime to pay the medical bills. Since my recovery, I've let myself have some expensive things again. I love acceleration, in any form. The Porsche is just a matter of pure, decadent, self-indulgence.

Do you think your experience with cancer contributed to a closer than usual bond with your own son, Luke?

I just think cancer taught me not to take fatherhood for granted. I really feel like he's a miracle baby. For a while there I wasn't sure I would be able to have a child, because the cancer treatments had left me sterile. We had to use the in-vitro method. So it's hard not to feel he's a real gift. My wife, Kristin, calls us her "two miracle boys.

Since you did not have a father figure in your own life, who are your role models for being a father?

Growing up, I saw more examples of what not to do. For instance, I won't hit my son. How old are kids when they start screwing up, eight? Ten? Old enough to have a conversation. When he messes up, I'm going sit him down and talk about it. As far as good examples, I have a wonderful father-in-law. Also, I have some dear friends who are great examples, for instance my friend and longtime coach, Jim Ochowicz, who taught me a lot about how to win races. But the best example of parenting I ever had was my mother. She was enough.

What traditional elements of fatherhood do you want to instill in your own family? For example is father's day a holiday you want to stress or downplay?

I'm not sure how traditional Luke's early childhood is going to be. For one thing, we travel a lot, so he has to be portable. We take him everywhere. We spend half the year in Austin and half the year in France, and when we're in France I'm away a lot racing, which is hard. The big challenge for me right now is how to spend as much time with him as possible and still train and race. I've already changed in some ways in order to be a traditional father. For the first time in my life, I've turned off the phones. The main thing I want is to be there for him.

Hoping to repeat last year's Tour de France win, Lance Armstrong is currently in France training for the three-week, 2,300-mile bike ride around the circumference of France. He recently answered questions for BookPage. BookPage: You have proven you can win races. You have proven you can beat cancer. What is left for you to prove? […]
Memoir

Mary Albanese

Interview by Heather Seggel

When author Mary Albanese abruptly left her home in upstate New York and set out for Alaska, it was with a teaching job in mind. A bump in the road led her to study geology instead, where her fine art and earth science skills served her well drawing maps. But drawing those maps required surveying alarmingly rough and remote terrain, while living on canned beans and rice and carrying a shotgun to ward off bears.

In Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon, Albanese tells the story of her time in Alaska, which reads like a love letter to some of the most unforgiving landscape on earth. BookPage had a few questions about the view from so far above the “lower 48.”

Alaska seems so extreme in every way, it's bound to have made deep impressions on you. What were your most and least favorite things about life there?

I loved the extreme seasons. It served to enhance the grandeur of the already magnificent landscape.

This might sound nuts but I didn’t have any least favorite thing. I loved the challenge of the cold, and of the heavy-duty work. I might not want to do that now, but back in my 20s, it was all a marvelous adventure.

You seemed so eager and ready to hit the tundra; was there anything you were sorry to leave behind in New York?

“If you HAVE to do it, nothing’s going to stop you. Be safe, be smart, work hard, and GO."

I was far from my family who were all very dear to me. But through my letters and phone calls, I made sure I vicariously gave them the best of my Alaska experiences.

It was surprising to read that your decision to study geology instead of education essentially turned on the regretful sigh of a professor who hadn't been able to experience Alaska's great wild spaces. Have you always had such a finely tuned decision meter?

Not at all. I had three majors in college because I couldn’t decide between them. It gave me such a headache debating what I would do with my life. But at that moment, something just seemed to finally fall into place and I went with it. Once I did, I didn’t look back.

The geology fieldwork you did was so tied to details and potential danger. How did you manage to appreciate the scenery while trying not to die every day?

There wasn’t a lot of time to enjoy the scenery but at the same time, you couldn’t be out there and NOT see it.

Author Mary Albanese at a high campsite with snow-capped Mount McKinley in the background.

 

One of the funniest parts of the book is also by far the saddest: a three-month period where you took on every single job or opportunity offered, including black-belt-level karate and conducting an orchestra, only to realize it was an attempt to deal with grief at the loss of your daughter. Do you think that “extreme-ness” is part of why you thrived in Alaska?

Absolutely. I will admit that I am an “experience” junkie. I think it’s why I am suited to be a writer, and it’s also why my writing varies so much. I like each project to be different from the last one.

On the flip side of that, you describe many people who seem to thrive in Alaska's remote environment, then fall apart on return to the lower 48. You've moved several times now and are clearly succeeding. How did you balance that?

After leaving Fairbanks, I had a pretty rough seven years living in Washington State. I felt that part of my soul was missing. Then we got to move back to Alaska. It was wonderful not only to be back, but to realize that Alaska was such a part of me that I carried it inside me. From then on, I knew wherever I was, I could bring my internal “Alaska” with me.

You initially tried to get hired as a teacher in Alaska, which was suffering a shortage, but couldn't land a job. Do you ever imagine what your life would have been like if that first choice had come through?

Before I got to Alaska, I had epic scenarios for my entire life all planned out. But once I made the move to geology, I never looked back. For one thing, I was so busy getting through it all that I didn’t have time to consider alternative lifestyles.

An antler-bedecked bus dubbed the Tundrasaurus carried Albanese and other geologists on an Arctic field trip.

My favorite story in the book is one where you're working with Dr. Thomas Smith in an area that has already been mapped. He disputes your charted finding of chert nodules in metamorphic terrain based on an older, partial map, until you pull one out of your vest and hand it to him, disproving the old map. This couldn't have been the only time something similar happened, and your grace and composure were admirable. Did you ever want to just conk someone with a rock hammer?

Grace and composure? I was terrified of Dr. Smith that first day and it was pure luck that I happened to have one of those chert nodules in my pocket. If I hadn’t, who knows? He might still think I was a dunce.

I really didn’t like it when some guy questioned my ability just because I was female. That really made me see red. I tried to handle the situation with tact and self-control but it didn’t always work.

It seems like among your siblings, the men stay closer to home while the women are rovers. Is that pattern playing out in each of your own families?  

My goodness, now that you mention it, yes! My daughters are off in the world, while my nephews are home-bodies. Hmmmm.

Your story takes place in the 1970s and early '80s, and you've had the opportunity to teach geoscience since then. Do you think girls are joining the field more readily, or does more need to be done? 

As long as women are more likely to be the primary care-tenders of their children, field jobs will be harder for women to pursue.

What advice would you give to a young person making a new start as bold as the one you did?

If you HAVE to do it, nothing’s going to stop you. Be safe, be smart, work hard, and GO.

Finally, it's always a pleasure for me to learn a new word, even if the meaning is appalling. So thank you, and eeeeew, for "horsicles." 

We can all thank my dog-mushing pal Shirley for that one.

When author Mary Albanese abruptly left her home in upstate New York and set out for Alaska, it was with a teaching job in mind. A bump in the road led her to study geology instead, where her fine art and earth science skills served her well drawing maps. But drawing those maps required surveying […]

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