Kent Nerburn

From the 2006 May/June Table of Contents of Native Peoples magazine:

ON THE COVER: Few Americans have ever matched the dignity, courage and wisdom possessed by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce people of Idaho, as seen in this image taken in 1877. Photo by Frank Jay Haynes.

Chief Joseph: A Man of His People. The trials and tribulations of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce are legendary, as are his accomplishments and dignity in the face of adversity. A look at his remarkable true story from the author of a fascinating new book on this heroic American. By Kent Nerburn.

Full text of the article coming soon.
Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve installed a triple dose of comment spam protection so the comments feature is now flipped on. It’s a defensive strategy designed to prevent the automated spammer scripts, not the one-comment-at-a-time spammers. We’ll soon see!

I’ve also turned on the comments for Kent’s blog entry from last week, The Site’s New Look, so feel free to leave him a comment there, or test it out by commenting here.

Just a bit of info for those of you who are curious.

I’ve decided to change the look and function of the site a bit to make it easier for folks to use. My hope, very shortly, is to be able to sell autographed copies of my books through the site, to have a way for you to listen to me reading short sections from each of the books, to have some further information for those of you who might wish to engage me as a speaker, and last, but surely not least, to have a way for your feedback to actually post to the site.

That last option has been deucedly difficult to achieve, because the spammers have miraculous ways of shoving junk onto a site so that the feedback area gets clogged with gambling opportunities, sexual enhancers, mortgage hustles, and ways to lose 50 pounds by taking a pill.

But we’re working on the problem and hope to turn off the mute very soon. In the interim, you can all still reach me individually through the “contact” button on the bar at the top.

I’m very excited about the changes. I think it will bring us all a little closer together. It has been a deep sadness of mine that the many fascinating and insightful comments I’ve received have not been available to the rest of you. There are some truly wonderful people who come to this website, and it will be a great day when you all get to see what your compatriots are thinking about the subjects that come up.

Now, a note for those of you who might be wondering about the banner. It was put together by my son, Nik, from two photos he took.

The scene is a sunset over the lake outside our front door here in northern Minnesota. I chose it because it has a quality of winsome peace about it, which rather fits with my own character. It also gives you a glimpse into the view that I have as I look out the window of my writing cabin.

The photo of me was taken at a Minnesota Book Awards ceremony earlier this year. Again, I wanted something interior and reflective, and this was it.

I had a few misgivings about going with something so quiet and almost brooding. But, on balance, it seemed like a fair depiction of the relative interiority of my life. I live in a beautiful place, and I spend a lot of time reflecting on both the light and shadow sides of life. This banner captures those elements.

I’ll begin posting more as I gain control over this new website. For now, thanks for staying with me, and keep the faith.