The living of life, any life, involves great and private pain, much of which we share with no one. In such places as the Inner Gorge, the pain trails away from you. It is not so quiet there or so removed that you can hear yourself think, that you would even wish to. That comes later. You can hear your heartbeat. That comes first.
Barry Lopez
As a follow up to my last post, which I wrote after reading that the writer Barry Lopez had died last month, I have been reading excerpts from his book Artic Dreams, which has been hiding under a layer of dust on our bookshelf. And then I found these very moving interviews with him online. (Please be aware that in one of them he talks about being sexually abused as a child - and his recovery.)
In the beginning of the first interview, he mentions that he had just come out of the Grand Canyon where he had spent time with musicians. This is one of the pieces of music from that experience.
Thank you for this, Sabine. Following up on your previous quote from Barry Lopez, I took the time yesterday to watch a two-part interview from November 2019. Until today, I did not realize that he had died or that he had been living with cancer for years.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fsUMiY48jA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrkiqZ-yUmo
In the interview he talks about the book he wrote called Horizon. I have put it on hold at our public library. I am grateful that he was able to finish that book a year before he died and talk about it with such clarity.
I'm unfamiliar with him. I don't usually listen to long audio interviews. I prefer to read.
ReplyDeleteI love knowing that he was in the Grand Canyon with Paul Winter, and that this music came from that experience. I will listen to the interview soon. It's good to hear the voice of such a thoughtful human being.
ReplyDeleteI used to have the book "Arctic Dreams," but I don't think I ever read it. I picked it up at some used-book store many years ago. Interesting that he was tagging along with Paul Winter in the Grand Canyon! (I also had Paul Winter's "Canyon" album, from 1985, which I loved. Thanks for this newer clip.)
ReplyDeleteI have been rereading Barry Lopez, too.
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing an interview with Mr Lopez on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. It was fascinating but I did not search out his writings. I will now.
ReplyDeleteMy husband mentioned this interview to me. I'm going to have to check our library for his work.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all of this.
ReplyDeleteBarry mentioned "...great and private pain, much of which we share with no one..." and nature's ability to heal us. Yes, yes, yes. The mountains, the ocean, the sky, the trees, they hold my pain for awhile, even let me set it down for a time, to just be, they soothe my soul and allow me to carry on, somewhat lighter and freer. I forget this sometimes and I didn't know others felt like this as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sabine.
Thank you for this. The Grand Canyon has held a special significance for me since I was a young girl, probably beginning from viewing National Geographic photos. In time The Grand Canyon Suite music created even more appealing visions for me, too. Then so many years later I finally had multiple occasions to visit the Canyon. Flew through it on one instance and I was even more enchanted. My first visit a rain storm the night before our long anticipated mule trip into the canyon washed out part of the trail so we could only go half way down. Another whirlwind weekend trip the Canyon was filled with clouds early one morning -- an awesome sight -- but there was always something different each time I was there. I cherish the occasions of having spent time there. Appreciate Winter's musical interpretation of sunrise from his Canyon experience. I've read there has been such an influx of Canyon visitors in recent decades they've had to alter the accessibility.
ReplyDeleteI have been unfamiliar with Barry's writings so must seek out more after listening to his interview. The Harpers article will be of special interest, too, if available as his comments about safety struck a chord with me. Nature can indeed be very healing.