During his trial in 1887, a young Native American defendant proclaimed through a translator: “I think you all know all the people can’t get along very well in the world. There are some good people and some bad people amongst them... Read More

On the heels of a difficult break-up, political activist and “hippie girl” Raday is set up on a blind date by her cousin George with a big-city policeman and former soldier, Barrett. She is urged by extended family members to go... Read More

Twelve-year-old Mariatu Kamara often prayed for new clothes, for a good harvest, or for a nice man to marry when she got older. Then, one day in 1999, the Sierra Leone native prayed for something quite different: “Please let me die... Read More

As part of the wedding ceremony in many traditions, the soon-to-be couple drinks from the same cup. On her wedding day in 2007, the author created a new family tradition: she and her husband “were lucky to be able to use the same cup... Read More

After naturalist John Muir ascended the tallest mountain in the continental United States, he wrote, “Well-seasoned limbs will enjoy the climb of 9,000 feet required by this direct route. But soft, succulent people should go the mule... Read More

When students at a Vermont middle school noticed that breathing the air made them feel ill, they also realized the buses sat outside with idling motors mornings and afternoons. Upon discovering that the fumes contained twelve different... Read More

A little girl first heard this story as she and her tribe members sat around the campfire nearly 125 years ago on the Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (1876-1938) is the girl who eventually grew... Read More

Successful Minneapolis lawyer Elena Grant feels obligated to represent ex-husband/environmental lawyer Nick Ward when his latest antic—dumping more than a hundred live lobsters into the mayor’s swimming pool—gets him bounced into... Read More