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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 poignant interview with local author Shirley Melis on her memoir Banged-Up Heart: Dancing with Love and Loss. How do you cope with and survive losing two beloveds just a few years apart? How do climb out of the despair of grief and risk loving again? Or don’t take that risk and live only a half-life. A wide-ranging interview touching also the importance of advocacy for a loved one with medical needs and somehow taking care of oneself. A tender interview that allows us to glimpse life’s hardest lessons through the eyes and words of someone who has been there twice. www.shirleymelis.com

Eleven years before New Mexico’s largest recorded wildfire in Hermit’s Peak and Calf Calf another vast, destructive and shockingly hotter fire called the Las Conchas Fire devastated the Jemez Mountains, wildlife and unique flora of the area.Photographers Patricia Galagan and her late husband Philip Metcalf, then new to the American west, chronicled the devastation, the stark aftermath, and the ultimate recovery of the land over a seven year period, creating and publishing a volume of photographs to treasure in a beautiful book called Fire Ghosts.Patricia joins me in the studio to talk about their journey of visual discovery and her observations as a photographer on how fire transforms and teaches. And how nature responds as best she can in this time of escalating climate change. A sensitive and enlightening interview.Fire Ghosts published by George F. Thompson 2019.

Do not miss this sparkling interview with renowned travel journalist and delightful storyteller Judith Fein, back in the KSFR studio with her fascinating book, How to Communicate with The Dead and How Cultures Do It Around The World. Why are we in the United States generally wary of discussing death and the “beyond” and expected to wear somber black for funerals? During her decades of travel Judith observed and actively participated in ceremonies and rituals celebrating the death of loved ones. She learned that the simple willingness to open our hearts and minds can offer us a glimpse through the gossamer thin veil that separates life from death. And that rather than being frightening or spooky the communications and conversations are filled with love and grace. Discover Judith Fein and all her books at www.globaladventure.us

Today, a delightful and fun chat with author and playwright Rosemary Zibart and director Nick Stofocik ahead of their long-awaited production City Mice. How does a playwright find a director and actors who can turn her long-nurtured seed idea and carefully-crafted script into a play ready for the audience and critics? What happened when Rosemary handed over City Mice to Nick? The answer may surprise you. We also clarify the reasons why Hollywood screenwriters and SAG actors are striking, and again that answer may not be what you think. City Mice will be playing at Teatro Paraguas in Santa Fe for two weekends, August 3–5 and 10–12 at 7:30 with matinees on Sundays, August 6 and 13 at 2:00. city-mice.ticketleap.com

A perfect show for a hot day as visual artist and poet Susan Gardner joins me with her perceptive and calming new volume of poetry, Love and The Weather.

“Imagine a place of infinite beauty, peace and healing …. there is a sound that can take you there.” Words of Ashana who offers us a glimpse into that sound as she speaks about her beautiful book, “Crystal Singing Bowls: The Angelic Sound of Healing, Relaxation and Spiritual Awakening.” Let yourself rest into her music and learn about the quartz crystal bowls and her personal path as a classically-trained, gifted musician. And how she unfolded her rare passion, her soaring, angelic voice merging with seeming alchemical resonance with the unique vibration and harmony of each crystal bowl she touches. A very special music-filled episode of The Last Word. www.soundofashana.com

A fascinating conversation with former US Ambassador Mark Asquino in the KSFR studio with his exciting memoir, Spanish Connections: My Diplomatic Journey from Venezuela to Equatorial Guinea. (Click for more.)

A mouth-watering treat for listeners today with three-time James Beard award-winning culinary writer Anya von Bremzen with her new book, National Dish: Around The World in Search of Food, History and The Meaning of Home. Part geography, part history and an exploration of deep cultural roots, we begin in Paris with the classic home-cooked dish, pot au feu, and travel with Anya onto Naples, Italy, to taste pizza unlike any you’ve tasted before. In a few minutes we’re in Seville, Spain relaxing with friends over tapas and onto Oaxaca, Mexico where the secrets of mole are passed down through generations There we learn of the 3,000 year old fight to keep corn, masa, safe from the wheat barons. Our final moments are spent in war-torn Ukraine the home of borsch, or is it Russia who claims to have created the delicious beetroot soup? National Dish is published by Penguin.