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Blue Dot 199: POETS In THE PARKS: A Conversation With Karla K. Morton And Alan Birkelbach

 

Dave visits with two dear friends, both Poets Laureate of Texas: Karla K. Morton and Alan Birkelbach. When we last visited with the pair of traveling poets in 2018, they were about half way through their quest to visit every U.S. National Park. 

 

Beginning with Yellowstone and ending with their 62nd park, White Sands in New Mexico, karla and Alan documented their journeys with poems and photographs that were just published by TCU Press, The National Parks A Century of Grace. It's a lush and epic volume filled with anecdotes, stunning pictures and of course, poems! 

 

Little did Dave know when he was serving as their guide to Lassen Volcanic National Park, that he would wind up being a part of the book. After finishing their project, they asked him to write the Afterword -- and he did! Join Dave, karla and Alan for a conversation filled with adventures through some of the most spectacular places on the planet.

 

Dave Schlom is the longtime host and creator of Blue Dot. From surfing to Voyager in interstellar space, rock guitar to orcas in our imperiled oceans, the topics on Blue Dot are as varied as the host’s interests and connections -- which are pretty limitless! An internationally respected space history journalist, Dave is also deeply fascinated by all aspects of the grand workings of nature’s awesome machinery on scales ranging from galactic to subatomic. And topics take in all aspects of the arts and sciences.
Matt Fidler is a producer and sound designer with over 15 years’ experience producing nationally distributed public radio programs. He has worked for shows such as Freakonomics Radio, Selected Shorts, Studio 360, The New Yorker Radio Hour and The Takeaway. In 2017, Matt launched the language podcast Very Bad Words, hitting the #28 spot in the iTunes podcast charts.