Tomorrow, KWMR Community Radio in West Marin will be airing an interview with me as part of their fall pledge drive and National Preparedness Month, from 10-11:30 am PST. And, they will give away free copies of FIRE MONKS as pledge premiums!
I am working on posting one or two more Huffington Post blogs in the next couple of weeks. After that, it will be quiet on fire-monks.com for the remaining months of the year, as I’ll be offline for three months of retreat–at Tassajara. Retreat isn’t exactly the right word for a practice period, but more on that later…
Mark your calendars: Just found out the paperback release date is June 26!
Pt. Reyes

Pt. Reyes Books owners Steve Costa and Kate Levinson with Fire Monks author Colleen Morton Busch and San Francisco Zen Center Central Abbot Steve Stucky at Pt. Reyes Community Presbyterian Church Aug 13th.
Thank you to Kate and Steve for hosting a great event. Read about Kate’s book, Emotional Currency, here.
Eventful August
July turned to August while I was in motion. Had a great event in Guerneville (thank you Susan Ryan of River Reader Bookstore!)–outside on a warm evening with redwood trees listening in.

The tour is winding down. I’ll be reading this week in Sonoma and Pt. Reyes, then early next week at the San Francisco Public Library. Possible September events are in the works for Lake Tahoe and Nevada City. Stay tuned.
Kron4 News Weekend
David Zimmerman and I will be on Kron4 News Weekend on Sunday 7/24 at 9:15am, interviewed by Henry Tenenbaum. The segment is only four minutes, so tune in on time if you want to watch!
Fire, wind, water, earth…
“We are a uniquely fire creature on a uniquely fire planet….Other animals knock over trees and dig holes; we do fire.” Fire is an “ecological signature” of who we are. “It forces us to act and to chose.”–Stephen J. Pyne
Tuesday night I had the honor of conversing with fire historian Pyne and our host Bill Deverell at the historic Los Angeles public library as part of the ALOUD program. This was the first in what promises to be an intriguing series on fire, wind, water, and earth. You can listen to the podcast here or on the player below.
Speaking of animals digging holes, one of my cats is in the hospital receiving continuous fluids, in critical condition. I held him in my lap today. He was earth, water, wind. Very little presence of fire, and yet, his illness is yet another kind of fire to meet, right there alongside the exhileration of my book tour.
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