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Stories From the Edge . . . So I'm sitting in my favorite bookstore and pull out a book with a picture on the cover. A man, grungy from a couple days in the woods, peers up at the camera with a quizzical expression: "Huh?" Right behind him is a large, rearing, grizzly bear! The title of the book sums up the guy's situation: "No Shit There I Was . . ." That really is the title of the book. The picture and title were good enough for me, so I bought it and read its various adventure tales from gonzo outdoors persons. These are pretty good stories, but what grabbed my attention was the advertisement at the book's end: "We are soliciting adventure stories for a sequel to 'No Shit There I Was. . .'" Now, I figure I've been in a scrape or two in my life. Or at least I can make one up.* So I mailed in a story about one of my adventures, and they took it! They actually decided to publish my puny little story right there along with some big he-man-type stories by real mountain men and women. This, needless to say, was big news. But I have not quit my day job to go into writing full-time, just yet. *Actually, all of these stories are non-fiction. It would take two lifetimes simply to write about everything real and interesting that goes on. Life itself is so intense . . . how do fiction writers have any time left over to make stuff up? • La Bohn Gap - This is the story that got published in the sequel, called "No Shit There I Was . . . Gone Wild" (edited by Michael Hodgson, ICS Books, Inc. 1996). • Ridgetop - Published in New Moon Network, Nov/Dec. 1998 • Cougar - They're out there. • Mind over Matter - A tale of map, compass, snow, and fire.

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Jonathan M. Karpoff

Email -- karpoff@u.washington.edu
Web -- http://faculty.washington.edu/karpoff