Newspaper column: Give books about Nevada and by Nevadans

With Christmas rapidly approaching you may be casting about for suggestions for what to give that special Nevada friend or family member. What could be better than books about Nevada or by Nevadans? The choices are as varied as the Nevada landscape and its denizens.

Doubly apropos this holiday season is Patricia Cafferata’s “Christmas in Nevada,” a collection of seasonal anecdotes from across the state and across the years.

Cafferata — a former state legislator, state treasurer, district attorney in three counties and daughter of Barbara Vucanovich, the first woman from Nevada to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives — has penned and collected short takes that capture the spirit of giving and community pride. They start with the budding traditions established in mining towns during the territorial days of the 1860s and progress chronologically up the huge modern celebrations.

The small and tall tales from the early days include such scenes as the Virginia City butcher who in 1863 advertised his Christmas wares by parading 184 turkeys down the frozen dirt street to his shop; the huge Christmas fest in the Magnolia Hotel in Winnemucca in 1870 that included fish, oysters, chicken, green vegetables, tea and coffee, liquor and cigars; the “nevergreen” Christmas trees cobbled from scraps of wood in the Tonopah mining camp miles from any real pine trees; the mother in Silver Peak who started making mincemeat in November and preserved it for the holiday by storing it in the cellar draped in brandy-soaked cloths; the Christmas in White Pine County in 1907 during which three miners were trapped inside a collapsed copper mine for 45 days before being rescued and feted with a holiday banquet; and one family’s custom Christmas card tradition that has lasted more than 50 years.

Modern depictions include the Christmas festivities at Opportunity Village in Las Vegas, which helps those with intellectual and developmental disabilities develop life skills and find employment opportunities. It started in 1981 with the Magic Forest of lighted Christmas trees, raising about $3,000, but growing in recent years into a major holiday theme park attended by about 10,000 people and raising $1.5 million. Also mentioned are the “12 Days of Christmas” in Elko, the Santa Pub Crawl in Reno and the Santa Run in Las Vegas that have grown from modest beginnings to huge crowds.

Just out earlier this year is native Nevadan and decades-long newspaper columnist John L. Smith’s “The Westside Slugger: Joe Neal’s Lifelong Fight for Social Justice.” The biography introduces you to Joe Neal, the first African America to serve in the Nevada state Senate. It traces his rise from impoverished Madison Parish, La., through his three decades in the state Senate until he earned a place in the Senate’s Hall of Fame.

Smith uses countless sources as well as his own considerable knowledge of the man and the times — both as a journalist and through his parents’ civil rights and union activism — to paint a detailed portrait of the scrappy Neal, who fought for the things he believed in.

For those who seek to experience Nevada and the region for themselves there is the latest edition of Deborah Wall’s “Base Camp Las Vegas,” a guide to 101 hikes in the region. Packed with photos, the book tells one how to get there, when to go, how to prepare, what to expect and what to avoid. It is a must for the explorer.

Another book published this year, if not about Nevada, is a piece of historic fiction by decades-long Nevada journalist A.D. Hopkins, “The Boys Who Woke Up Early.” Hopkins has penned a fictional account from his boyhood home in western Virginia during the Eisenhower era, looking at the seamy side of life through the eyes of high school boys.

Yes, the boys might’ve awakened early on occasion, but what they “woke up” was rural Early County and Jubal Early High School, named for a Confederate general. The book is laced with homespun conspiracies, displays of chivalry, dirty tricks, righteous revenge and conflicts that frequently result in gunplay, fisticuffs and the strategic use of ax handles and baseball bats. The plot is compelling and the dialog authentic.

For a cornucopia of books about Nevada and the West, turn to Range magazine’s website where you will find books and calendars depicting the ranching and farming lifestyle and attitudes. Among my favorites are the two “Brushstrokes & Balladeers,” coffee table books featuring Western-themed paintings and cowboy poets, including Elko County native Waddie Mitchell.

A version of this column appeared this week in many of the Battle Born Media newspapers — The Ely Times, the Mesquite Local News, the Mineral County Independent-News, the Eureka Sentinel and the Lincoln County Record — and the Elko Daily Free Press.

Newspaper column: Give books about Nevada and by Nevadans

With Christmas rapidly approaching some of you may still be confounded by the question of just what to give that Nevada friend or family member. May we be so bold as to suggest a gift that endures — books about Nevada or by Nevadans. The choices are as varied as Nevada’s people and its landscapes. 

These can be found in your local bookstore and online from several book retailers in hardback, paperback and electronic versions.

A book that will open the reader to the wonders of Nevada and the Southwest is Deborah Wall’s expanded 2nd edition of “Base Camp Las Vegas,” a guide to 101 hikes in the region. Packed with photos, the book tells one how to get there, when to go, how to prepare, what to expect and what to avoid. It is a must for the explorer.

Just in time for holiday giving, Range magazine has published another of its gorgeous coffee table books — “The Magnificent American West,” which features colorful, award-winning photographs along with the wit and witticisms of Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain.

At rangemagazine.com one can also find several other books about Nevada and the Western lifestyle, including collections of cowboy poetry and art such as “Brushstrokes & Balladeers” and “Reflections of the West,” which include poems by Nevadan Waddie Mitchell.

Of course, no Nevadan’s library is complete without a copy of Twain’s “Roughing It,” which recounts his sojourn in Nevada during the Civil War and his misadventures in newspapering as a reporter and briefly as an editor. He claimed his editorials prompted no less than six invitations to duel. 

To learn more about the truth-stretching Twain, one could pick up a copy of Andrew Hoffman’s biography, “Inventing Mark Twain,” which relates how Sam Clemens really came by his nom de plume.

“People who knew Sam in Nevada said that he arrived at the pseudonym by entering a saloon and calling out in the leadsman’s singsong intonation ‘Mark twain!’ — meaning the bartender should pour two drinks and mark them down on the debit ledger,” writes Hoffman.

From the same era comes Twain’s editor’s reminiscences about “The Big Bonanza” — Dan de Quille’s foray into the goings-on during the days of the Comstock Lode.

In a similar vein comes Robert Laxalt’s “Sweet Promised Land,” which reflects on Nevada’s formative years and his father’s visit to his native Basque homeland. 

 Sally Denton’s “Profiteers: Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World” recounts the engineering feat that produced the landscape altering Hoover Dam.

The newest addition to the list of books by Nevadans, if not necessarily about Nevada, is so new it will not be available in print until March, but one may order it now and put a printout of the book cover under the tree. Longtime Nevada writer, editor, investigative journalist, essayist and shirt-tail historian A.D. Hopkins has penned a fictional account from his boyhood home in western Virginia during the Eisenhower era called, “The Boys Who Woke Up Early.” It looks at the seamy side of life through the eyes of high school boys.

Longtime Nevada editorialist and columnist Vin Suprynowicz also has added fiction to his list of books. The latest is a science fiction, libertarian-leaning tale called “The Miskatonic Manuscript,” a follow-up to his “The Testament of James.” His non-fiction collections of essays include “Send in the Waco Killers” and “The Ballad of Carl Drega.”

For a look at how Nevada corporations edged out the mob to take over the gaming racket, there is longtime newspaper columnist John L. Smith’s “Sharks in the Desert.” One might also peruse his books about gambling execs Steve Wynn and Bob Stupak and mob attorney-turned Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman.

We also recommend Colorado-based writer David Philipps attempt to answer the question about what to do about the West’s burgeoning wild horse population in his book “Wild Horse Country.” The book sweeps across a span of time and landscape as vast as the range of the wild horse, delving into views and suggestions from horse-huggers and horse-disparagers alike, turning more than a few colorful similes and metaphors along the journey.

To span the human history of Nevada, there is prolific Nevada chronicler Stanley Paher’s retrospect on the state’s first 150 years with “Nevadans: Spirit of the Silver State,” which takes the reader from the earliest explorers and emigrants through the mining and ranching eras to modern times.

May your friends and family appreciate you and your gifts.

A version of this column appeared this week in many of the Battle Born Media newspapers — The Ely Times, the Mesquite Local News, the Mineral County Independent-News, the Eureka Sentinel and the Lincoln County Record — and the Elko Daily Free Press.

Newspaper column: ‘Access For All’ to the great outdoors

Capitol Reef National Park, in South Central Utah, preserves not only unspoiled nature but relics of those who settled the land. The authors find it a good destination for visitors with limited mobility. (Photo by Deborah Wall.)

Nevada and the Southwest are chock-full of gorgeous scenery from the heights of Wheeler Peak to the depths of Death Valley, but enjoying them often requires a bit of stamina.

Along comes a unique book for those who want to see these sights but have limited mobility — whether in a wheelchair, using a walker, having a service dog or simply not in the best of shape, as related in this week’s newspaper column, available online at The Ely Times and the Elko Daily Free Press. For these people, and frankly anyone interested in getting out and seeing our great land, experienced outdoor writers and photographers Deborah Wall and Dennis Boulton have penned “Access For All: Touring the Southwest With Limited Mobility.”

The numerous, lush photographs alone make the book a valuable addition to anyone’s library.

The writers traveled tens of thousands of miles to research and take photographs for the book, finding accessible trails, overlooks, campgrounds, parking, bathrooms and lodging accommodations for the dozens of beautiful natural sights in Nevada, Arizona, Utah and western California.

Previously there has been little information available about which outdoor destinations are equipped to accommodate people with limited mobility, even though more and more outdoor sights have redoubled efforts to provide access to areas formerly available only to the young and fit. Longer life expectancy and early retirements have given more of us time to travel, despite aching joints and shortened breath.

In addition, the book suggests several road trips in which the scenery is visible from the comfort of an air-conditioned car, such as Highway 50: Loneliest Road in America.

“U.S. 50 roughly parallels the trail used by the Pony Express, the short-lived mail delivery system which ran from 1860 to 1861 …” the book tells us.

“If you long to experience the ‘real Nevada’ of present-day Western films, this is a good place to do so. To do it properly, allow two or three days; don’t fight the 382 miles from Carson City to Baker (home of Great Basin National Park), but savor them.”

In addition to the sights to see and the wildlife to watch for, the book is rich with history and anecdotes that you can regale your friends and family with while on the outing.

“In the Moapa area (Jack) Longstreet killed a man named Dry. Dry had a bad reputation, so authorities accepted Longstreet’s claim of self-defense. But on the hilt of Longstreet’s revolver, Dry’s notch wasn’t the only one,” we are told. “Longstreet built at Ash Meadows in 1895. He cleverly set the back of his cabin into a natural spring mound, whose running water provided refrigeration for food storage.”

The book, published by New University Press, hit the bookstore shelves this week and is available on Amazon.com for $24.99.

Read the entire column at Ely or Elko.

New travel book about Southwest hits the bookstores

There is a book signing Sunday in Boulder City for a new book about outdoor sites in Nevada and the Southwest that are accessible for those with limited mobility. Though it is targeted for the needs of this specific demographic, the book was a wealth of information about where to go and what to see and what is the history of places for anyone interested in our regional scenery. And the photos are gorgeous.

Here is the press release in its entirety:

 

Authors present newest outdoor

book at historic Boulder Dam Hotel

            Outdoor authors Deborah Wall and Dennis Boulton have published a new book designed to help people with limited mobility enjoy the same sights that awed others with the natural beauty of the American Southwest. The new book will be unveiled, and available for purchase and signing by the authors, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 22, at the Boulder Dam Hotel, 1305 Arizona St., Boulder City.

Deborah Wall

“Access For All: Touring The Southwest With Limited Mobility” is a guidebook to choice outdoor attractions, selected especially for their accessibility to those in wheelchairs, using walkers, or simply requiring relatively level and easy pathways to viewpoints. As in other books Wall has published, detailed directions are given to each site, but in this case the directions also deal with accessibility issues, such as the availability of accessible restrooms and campsites or, in buildings associated with the outdoor sites, elevators.

 The new book is published by New University Press, http://newuniversitypress.com/, a Las Vegas company specializing in non-fiction, and is available from Amazon.com. Complete with many excellent photos of the striking scenery recommended, it is priced at $24.95.

            Wall, a professional outdoor writer and photographer, is the author of a popular bi-weekly column on hiking in the View Neighborhood Newspapers distributed with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and also carried in the Boulder City Review. She wrote two previous, well-received books on hiking, “Base Camp Las Vegas” and “Great Hikes: A Cerca Country Guide,” besides publishing numerous articles on hiking and touring in the Southwest. She was the most prolific contributor to the outdoor magazine “Cerca” and to its successor, the Cerca travel pages carried monthly in the Review-Journal.

Dennis Boulton

            Her co-author, Boulton, is a retired geologist and teacher. He has earned degrees from UNLV and UNR and has lived in Nevada since 1965. Like Wall, he is an expert hiker, and Boulton has been a guide for backpacking and whitewater adventures. The two jointly wrote columns on accessible recreation before deciding to compose a book on the subject.

            Little information was previously available about which outdoor destinations are well-equipped to accommodate those with limited mobility. Yet social and technological changes have made it increasingly likely those citizens will seek adventure outdoors.  Better roads and cars, and advances in wheelchairs, walkers, artificial limbs and braces, and other equipment, have made it possible for them to reach outdoor destinations formerly seen only by the rugged and young. Greater life expectancy and opportunities for earlier retirement have given many aging Americans the time to travel, despite the artificial hip or the pacemaker. Furthermore, the wounded but willing veterans of America’s wars in the Mideast seek, and deserve, the opportunity for outdoor adventures in a peaceful landscape.

Wall and Boulton are both experienced and poised public speakers who offer in-depth slide shows featuring the photographs from their travels. They speak on hiking and outdoor travel in Nevada, Arizona, California and Utah. To contact them about possible speaking engagements or booksigning appearances, e-mail them at deborabus@aol.com.

            The Boulder Dam Hotel is a historic structure dating from the 1930s, when it was the accommodation of choice for VIPs visiting the construction site that became the crowning achievement of the Depression-era public works project, and created the famous structure now called Hoover Dam. Restored, the hotel is accessible to those with limited mobility. Besides operating as a hotel, the building also contains a historical museum focusing on the building of the Hoover Dam.