Author Archives: williamjcobb

The Raptors of Custer County

Posted on July 24, 2012 by williamjcobb

So living in a high-desert mountain valley, I see a ton of raptors on the telephone poles and fence posts as I drive to and from town. Most of the time they’re easily identified (or guessed) as Red-Tailed Hawks, since … Continue reading →

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"Dust-Bowlification" and Climate Change in the NY Times

Posted on July 23, 2012 by williamjcobb

So Paul Krugman has a good piece in today’s NY Times, here. ThinkProgress.org has blasted the Times for its recent blather about climate change, so it’s nice to see at least Krugman seems to get it. I like his ending … Continue reading →

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On Simon Winchester's "Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories," Plus That Crazy "Mermaid" Show Last Night

Posted on July 17, 2012 by williamjcobb

So today is a High Brow/Low Brow blue plate special: Right now I’m reading Simon Winchester’s Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories (2010), part of my summer reading slate of … Continue reading →

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A Tom Cruise Story That You Won't See on Entertainment Tonight

Posted on July 14, 2012 by williamjcobb

So what I find irritating about our celebrity-obsessed culture is that we adore our movie stars, then want to tear them down and make them out to be monsters, as if from some elaborate (and national) You Think You’re Better … Continue reading →

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"The Bird Saviors" Imagines Another Dust Bowl: Could This Happen Again?

Posted on July 10, 2012 by williamjcobb

So one of the tricks of writing a novel set in the “near future” is that whatever reality you come up with should be relevant, conceivable, and interesting, and of course I hope I’ve pulled that off in my new … Continue reading →

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Fireworks for Summer People: A Tale of Summer Mayhem

Posted on July 6, 2012 by williamjcobb

So seeing as we’re living through the worst wildfire season in Colorado history, our annual fireworks show in the town of Westcliffe was canceled due to a Stage 2 fire ban. I missed it. As a kid, fireworks were a … Continue reading →

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Reading "The Southwestern Journals of Zebulon Pike: 1806-7": A Vision of Colorado Springs Before It Was Afire, Plus "The Bird Saviors" Appears on KRCC, Colorado Springs Radio

Posted on July 1, 2012 by williamjcobb

So after returning from another trip to Santa Fe, I’m now reading “The Southwestern Journals of Zebulon Pike: 1806-7,” which recounts an expedition to explore the Arkansas River boundary of the Louisiana Purchase—otherwise known as a Poor Man’s Lewis & … Continue reading →

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Fires, Plagues of Locusts, and Chiggers: Signs of the Apocalypse in Colorado, Or Is That Global Warming in Your Pocket?

Posted on June 27, 2012 by williamjcobb

So I believe in the biblical apocalypse as much as I do the Tooth Fairy, but replace the word “apocalypse” with “global warming” and we’re onto something real. The back roads of Custer County, Colorado are now covered with swarms … Continue reading →

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Fires in the West a Sign of Things To Come: Prophecies in "The Bird Saviors" Coming True, Unfortunately

Posted on June 27, 2012 by williamjcobb

So my novel The Bird Saviors is set in the “near future,” which I always thought to be something like five to ten years from now, but some of the calamities forecast in the story are unfolding right now—particularly an … Continue reading →

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Reading Stephen Graham Jones's "Growing Up Dead in Texas," While Colorado Burns, Plus an Interview on ShelfLife@Texas

Posted on June 21, 2012 by williamjcobb

So I’m reading Stephen Graham Jones’s new novel, Growing Up Dead in Texas, which has a wicked description of a cotton-bale fire in West Texas. It’s a bit eerie to read right now, as I’m in Colorado, which seems to … Continue reading →

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