My interview in Shoutout Colorado

Sometimes I find myself on the other end of the interview.

In March 2021, Shoutout Colorado featured me as a professional sharing gratitude with people who supported my success along my career path.

The problem with naming names is that somebody inevitably goes unnamed, if not forgotten, so I kept my categories vague.

I do wish I’d thought to include all the sports coaches who pushed me not only to go farther, faster, higher, score more points, but also to win and to lose with grace.

Here’s a link to click for my interview.

Thank you to Shoutout Colorado for the limelight.

Coffee: What’s the buzz?

Coast to coast, many Americans—myself included–cannot imagine a day without coffee. But coffee is a vulnerable crop that is, so to speak, in hot water. Coffee cultivation faces many challenges, including climate change. As demand for coffee increases, yields decrease due to increased drought, pests and damaging storms. In addition, coffee lacks genetic diversity. And coffee is linked to many social justice issues, as well. 

In the United States, coffee is produced in Hawaii, Puerto Rico and more recently in California. However, the U.S. Congress allocated funds to expand the USDA’s research and development in 2019, the USDA Coffee and Cacao Crop Germplasm Committee was formed. 

The chair of that committee is Sarada Krishnan, Ph.D., also directs horticulture and global initiatives at Denver Botanic Gardens. “Coffee is an international crop, and it surely is a crop whose sustainability every country needs to address. The entire coffee value chain needs to address sustainability, including consumers,” said Krishnan, who owns coffee farms in Jamaica. 

One of the foremost authorities on coffee, Krishnan also is working on a coffee research project in Puerto Rico, affected by both hurricanes and earthquakes. Dr. Sarada Krishnan was contracted by World Coffee Research to serve as the lead scientist in a research project to study the feasibility of using solar panels to generate energy for coffee farms while also providing shade for the coffee plants.  

I’ve wanted to interview Dr. Krishnan for years and finally caught up with her. This feature on her and her passion for coffee was published April 11,2021, in The Denver Gazette, and you can read it at this link.

Folk art often not as simple as meets the eye

The Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe boasts the world’s largest collection of folk art.

FOLK ART MIGHT APPEAR SIMPLE, yet oftentimes is anything but. Throughout centuries and around the globe, folk artists have used folk arts in myriad forms to express political opinions, document social injustices and capture the attention of others who might know the emotions of their plights through their artworks.

Whether quilters from Gee’s Bend or Native American potters, the artists tell a story — often a tale of oppression. Folk artists turn to creativity even in — especially in — the darkest of times. Why do people make art in times of trouble? To learn more about how folk artists are activists, click here to read the article published by Art & Object. (No paywall!)