Idaho Conversation League

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/22/60minutes/main2205629.shtml

From the Idaho Mountain Express special summer solstice edition By TONY EVANS Tony Evans Even though I tend to gripe about the past, I'm not sure I would give away any of my memories. I like to assume there is value in overcoming obstacles and learning lessons from experience. Could I be rationalizing miseries, just as I once extolled the virtues of certain novels, merely because I had read them? Without attaching meaning and value to experiences, even the worst of them, I fear I may lose the plot of my life entirely. But what could be the harm in deleting a few scenes? A new and experimental drug called Propranolol promises to allow the user to eradicate feelings associated with specific traumatic events. Rape victims and war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are targeted groups for Propranolol, which inhibits the effect of adrenaline in certain neural networks associated with traumatic memories. The drug, in effect, allows people to avoid excessively strong

Tim was mad at Karen. A girl I had not gone out with for very long, but an explorer and one who urged me to cut away that residual umbilical cord, which had been long attaching me to ma and move more than twenty miles away from home. "Take your head west young man!” Karen had urged me several times through late night conversations to move to Idaho, even though we were sort of going steady at the time and she wasn’t planning on shacking west with me. You see Tim and I had long been palsy-walseys, choosing to sit next to each other in the same Nashville Cats religious class ever since we’s babies. Tim and I became quickly bored with religion class, hardly believed in miracles, and would have rather been outside. We stroked pencils against each other’s forearms, nestling in sensitivity in a seemingly sensible way; when my mother –still not yet fully rebounded from her postpartum depression - broke into the classroom to tug me away by the arm for a long intensive shamin

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6221280.stm

Tales of plunder and woe at Sun Valley Wellness Festival BY TONY EVANS Robert Kennedy Jr. raised his own call to arms in Idaho, challenging the public to better educate themselves and question the status quo. Kennedy, a well-known environmentalist, teacher and lawyer, issued his challenge during a speech at the Sun Valley Wellness Festival last month, an address that drew a crowd of more than 800. "Our Environmental Destiny" was a harsh review of current environmental legislation, which Kennedy said has taken the core out of work started more than 30 years ago with the first Earth Day protest in 1970. That event drew roughly 20 million people. Kennedy drew a grim picture of political collusion with corporate polluters, a media blinded by profits, and religious fundamentalism. "We are living in a science-fiction nightmare in this country," he said. Kennedy drew parallels between the environment and some of the world's most prominent spiritual traditions, pointing

The ghost in the machine Hailey writer no longer undercover First in a two-part report By Tony Evans For the Mountain Express Bob Pearson is an anonymous master of the craft of writing. As a "writer for hire" for nearly three-quarters of a century, he has rarely taken credit for his work. Although he has written numerous books, supplied speeches for two U.S. presidents and has been friends with many of the leading literary figures of his day, only lately has he begun to write his own memoirs from a small basement office on River Street in Hailey. Bob Pearson works in his office in Hailey . Photo by Tony Evans Pearson is also the patriarch of a local "writing dynasty," which includes his two sons Brad and Ridley Pearson. Brad has worked alongside his father on two books, and is currently the editor of Heartland magazine. Ridley is a best-selling author of more than 20 novel-thrillers, featuring the exploits of detective Lou Bolt and Daphne Matthews. His work has bee

The Ghost in the Machine Ghost writer comes clean ‘I don’t think he realized his words were written by a sniveley-nosed ensign.’ Second of two parts By TONY EVANS For the Express Hailey resident and writer Robert Pearson, 87, made a name for himself working behind the scenes. But these days he is busy writing his own memoirs. In last week in the Friday edition of the Idaho Mountain Express, Pearson related his earlier exploits ghost writing for college students and as a part of the Dutch Treat Club in New York. In 1941 following the United States’ entrance into World War II, he was commissioned into the Navy as a speech writer. He also was trained to seek out German U-boats, and that’s where we pick up Pearson’s story today: Bob and Betsy Pearson. Photo by Tony Evans During the months leading up to the Allies’ invasion at Normandy, Pearson served in Destroyer Escort 666, aboard the U.S.S Durik. His ship’s mission was to protect the multitude of vessels carrying men and materiel to Eur

Remembering the West Coast Writer's Group http://www.rodserling.com/csorcerers.htm