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A delight to be joined today by Patricia Hodapp, retired Director of Libraries for the City of Santa Fe in the studio with her fun book, “The Complete Santa Fe Bucket List: 100 Things to Do in Santa Fe Before you Die.” We noted that the contents are for tourists, locals and Santa Fe natives alike. Even if you’ve lived here for years, listen and learn ! From skiing in our glorious mountains to the brilliant stars in our wide, majestic night sky, Pat takes us there. From favorite food haunts to discovering hidden gardens and where to find apricots in an abundant year, Pat knows. In our City of Holy Faith settled millennia before by native people wise to the secrets of the seasons and spirit of beauty, we touch the pulse of Santa Fe. The Complete Santa Fe Bucket List always available at Collected Works bookstore or from the author pathodapp@yahoo.com Plus, details of the contests mentioned during the show at www.newmexicopresswomen.org

My guest today is award-winning Santa Fe writer Rosemary Zibart. Her career covers almost every genre from novels for adults, children and young adults to film scripts and full-length plays. Most of all Rosemary is a storyteller, an astute observer of our times, and a fascinating researcher of times and centuries and characters steeped in the past. Rosemary is currently immersed in five different projects including a one-act play “Dizzy,” a delightful and insightful take on 19th Century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, and a true story of survival in the harsh Utah wilderness. During our interview she offers tips for budding playwrights and novelists and how she moves fluidly from one format to another. You can find Rosemary on medium.com and at rosemaryzibart.com

A return visit to The Last Word by children’s author Wade Bergner with his new book in the Emotional Agility Matters series, The Mirror Box. Designed for children between ages 5 to about 9, Wade explores the sensitive terrain talking with youngsters about the death of a loved one, a close relative or perhaps a beloved family pet, crafting a story about a boy called Christopher learning about his Grandpapa’s passing. For listeners who may be writers themselves planning on self publishing, we also discuss the sometimes scary issue of publicity, something that Wade has taken on by the horns, so to speak, despite being a formerly shy and naturally sensitive person. A jewel of advice is that you’re not “self promoting,” you’re representing the book.The Mirror Box bergnerbooks.com

Journey with us to the Louisiana coast to discover the beauty, history and possible future of the sentient beings known as live oaks with award-winning photographer and essayist William Guion. His gorgeous new book Return to Heartwood: A Search for the Heart of Live Oak Country reveals the hidden and vibrant ecology of these ancient trees and their environment. Bill Guion’s short essays that accompany each photograph are like prose poetry that elicits yearning and love and a deep, instinctive peace. Close your eyes as you hear the author read. williamguion.com and returntoheartwood.com

Listeners, have you ever experienced a moment of transcendent awe? Perhaps walking in nature inspires heart-opening beauty that takes your breath away, or being in the presence of a beloved friend or witnessing the birth of a baby. How do you feel during and after these moments? Do they only happen when you’re alone, or do you experience awe among friends and even strangers at a concert or a sports event? Professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, Dacher Keltner, joins me to discuss his fascinating book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. Why has awe been essential to our human existence from the beginning of time? Can an experience of awe contribute to our health and well being? How can we experience more awe in our daily lives? Listen and be surprisingly inspired. www.dacherkeltner.com and greatergood.berkeley.edu

An exciting glimpse into The 2023 Santa Fe International Literary Festival with Co-founder and Curator Mark Bryant who for decades has been at the epicenter of the world of publishing and journalism. The Festival will take place May 19th to 21st at Santa Fe Convention Center and is a veritable feast for book lovers of every genre ever imagined. Literary luminaries, local and from around the globe, will offer big-stage presentations, intimate talks, book signings and special events. One of this century’s finest writers, Colum McCann, opens The Festival on the Friday evening. His brilliance is matched throughout the weekend with talks by Jennifer Egan, John Irving, Diana Gabaldon, Ed Yong, Michael McGarrity, Laila Lalami, and far too many other authors of equal merit to name in one sentence. Sunday afternoon’s schedule includes a tribute to Rudolfo Anaya by Denise Chavez and Luis Alberto Urrea. The lovely central courtyard with bring together lunchtime activities, poetry and introductions to many of Santa Fe’s young, emerging writers. Keep the website www.sfinternationallitfest.org starred on your laptop for full details, updates and ticket purchase, and expect your minds and hearts to be blown even wider open than they are now !

“When Cows Wore Shoes” takes us back in time to mid-century rural Spain where Elizabeth Rose and her young family spent eleven idyllic summers untouched by modern conveniences. Wanting her sons to experience a culture different from their well-ordered English life Elizabeth and her then partner found their way to the tiny mountain village of Ruesga, where the boys could “run feral, roam the unseen worlds of their imagination.” Filled with characters they came to love and who welcomed them back each summer, we learn about farming practices where working cows wore shoes to protect their feet from the rocky ground, and dine with the family on scavenged roots and herbs, fresh meat from animals they personally knew, and vegetables picked seconds earlier. A treasure of a memoir from a gifted writer who later discovered the wilds of New Mexico. “When Cows Wore Shoes” by E.P. Rose www.galisteoliz.com Elizabeth will be reading at Travel Bug, 839 Paseo de Peralta, at 5:00 pm on Saturday, April 8th.

A return visit by wild earth poet, Timothy McLaughlin, whose life and work have taken him into tracts of wilderness unknown to many of us. Listen as Timothy recites pieces from his observations and heightened perception deep in forests and inspires exploration of the close relationship between our human selves and the natural world. On Saturday, February 4th Timothy, his wife singer Madi Sato, and cellist Nelson Denman offer a spoken word concert, Untracked: A Journey into Wildness at Unity Santa Fe. Doors open at 5:30, details at unitysantafe.org Connect with Timothy at timothypmclaughlin.comAlso today, exciting news of an essay writing contest for New Mexico students in 6th through 12th grade. Contest details at leopoldwritingprogram.org

A personal delight to interview award-winning poet Sarah Newfeld-Green who, you may guess, is related to me. In fact, my own dear twin sister. Winner of this year’s Golden Quill award for poetry in California’s Central Coast where she lives, Sarah dips into the personal and the political, including a timely comment “on the effluvia of the media.” Her observations on family, death and aging, on nature’s magnificence and subtlety glimpse a mind and heart that “summon’s memory and savor’s love” as her work has been described. Her 2019 collection Rainbows is available directly from her, best to contact me at thelastword@ksfr.org and I will send your request on to her. A new collection hopefully coming next year.

Mary Lou Cooper has reported for KSFR for over a decade, focusing on consumer issues, health, politics, and more. She is a former US Congressional staffer and remains a political junkie to this day. Cooper has received journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Associated Press, National Federation of Press Women and New Mexico Press Women. She grew up in Oak Ridge, TN and received her BA from Emory University in Atlanta and her MA from the University of Texas Austin. She holds fiction and screenwriting certificates from the University of Washington.