Author Archives: Kit Stolz

a traveling travel writer stops over in Ojai

At the Ojai’s Farmer’s Market today a friend encouraged me to talk to the “poet, travel writer, and embodied writing coach” afrose fatima ahmed. She was sitting at a table in the shade near the center of the little farmer’s market. So I did, and asked her for a poem. I asked her for a poem onContinue reading “a traveling travel writer stops over in Ojai”

Sea lion attacks kayaker with octopus

In an extraordinary incident, a sea lion flung an octopus at a young man kayaking near a New Zealand shore, and was caught live on a digital camera. The clip went viral around the world. National Public Radio’s Rachel Cohen followed up with a wonderfully thorough and appropriately playful story. Check it out: it’s astonishing:Continue reading “Sea lion attacks kayaker with octopus”

What’s wrong with reality? (Red Desert)

It’s not a coincidence, surely, that Monica Vitti in the Italian movie poster for Michelangelo Antonioni’s classic Red Desert, from l964, assumes the position of the tormented man on the bridge in The Scream by Edvard Munch.  Most of Antonioni’s movies seem to begin with a beautiful woman, usually Monica Vitti, rushing from the social sceneContinue reading “What’s wrong with reality? (Red Desert)”

Dirt: People of the PCT (Oregon 2018)

This is Dirt, with whom I briefly crossed paths at about mile TK on the PCT. We had a short but interesting conversation that’s still very alive for me. Our brief dialogue touched on two or three or so topics, but seemed full of the immense uncertainty of human life. Quite possibly I might neverContinue reading “Dirt: People of the PCT (Oregon 2018)”

Stunt journalism scores again (in the Guardian)

A terrific story today in the Guardian puts the infamous all-beef diet extolled by Jordan Peterson and his clan to the test. This could be described as a stunt journalism, much like Supersize Me, but given that we’re talking about food; yes, it’s fair. It’s reporting. Gabbatt does talk to a medical expert, who sharplyContinue reading “Stunt journalism scores again (in the Guardian)”

Puttering about in a Small Land (Philip K. Dick book review)

Ojai through the eyes of a great American writer Philip K. Dick, now widely considered the most brilliant of all science fiction writers, wrote hundreds of extraordinarily imaginative stories and forty-four novels, and — like an innovative artist who only becomes famous after his death — in recent years has had his work splashed acrossContinue reading “Puttering about in a Small Land (Philip K. Dick book review)”

Cowboy camping on the PCT: from Crater Lake Nat’l Park to Timberline Lodge in Oregon

What does it mean to cowboy camp the PCT? Put simply, it means camping without a tent. Throwing down a mat and your bag (or your lighter and maybe even warmer down quilt) and using the stars for your night light, and dawn for your alarm clock. But expand the definition a little and cowboyContinue reading “Cowboy camping on the PCT: from Crater Lake Nat’l Park to Timberline Lodge in Oregon”

The Not-Quite-Sober John Muir (review)

Here’s a book review/essay I wrote a while back for a journal called Wild Earth, that I repost here on A Change in the Wind because I want it to be Google-able. Below the fold I’ll put it the remainder of the review in a standard font. For Muir admirers, please let me say itContinue reading “The Not-Quite-Sober John Muir (review)”