• Author
  • Book
  • Story behind the book
  • Media Links
  • Reviews
James Workman

James Workman

About

James Workman began his award-winning career as a journalist in Washington, D.C. for The New Republic, Washington Monthly, Utne Reader, Orion, Washington Business Journal, and other publications.  In the Clinton administration he served as speechwriter and special assistant to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, spearheading a national campaign that blew up obsolete dams to replenish dying rivers. For seven years in Africa and Asia he helped forge the landmark report of the World Commission on Dams, filed overseas dispatches on water scarcity, led radio and TV documentary researchsafaris, spoke at universities, and advised global businesses, aid agencies,and conservation organizations on water policy. Based on his experience with the Kalahari Bushmen, he is pioneeringnew platforms for trading the human right to water. He lives in San Francisco with hiswife Vanessa and their two daughters Camille and Louise, where he is at work on his next book.
Please visit James Workman’s web site, www.heartofdryness.com

A Shadow in Yucatan

A Shadow in Yucatan

0.0
0 ratings

Description

<p>A mythical jewel of a story… A true story told on a beach in Yucatan, A Shadow tells Stephanie's story but it was also the story of the golden time. Its nostalgia sings like cicadas in the heat.</p><p>An American ‘Under Milkwood’, this distilled novel of the Sixties evokes the sounds, music and optimism on the free-wheelin streets and parks of Coconut Grove. You can hear Bob Dylan still strumming acoustic; smoke a joint with Fred Neil; and Everybody’s Talkin is carried on the wind.</p><p>Stephanie, a young hairdresser living in lodgings finds herself pregnant. Refused help from her hard Catholic mother in New York, unable to abort her baby, she accepts the kindness of Miriam, her Jewish landlady, whose own barren life spills into compassionate assistance for the daughter she never had.</p><p>The poignancy of its ending, its generosity and acceptance, echoes the bitter disappointment of those of us who hoped for so much more, but who remember its joy, and its promise, as though untarnished by time.</p>

Story Behind The Book

Media Links

Reviews

<span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-size:14pt;"></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:center;" align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:22pt;">Praise for<em> Heart of Dryness</em></span></strong></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><em><span style="font-size:14pt;"></span></em></strong></p><p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">“An astonishing synthesis of human and natural history, folly, scarcity, beauty, dignity and power. <em>Heart of Dryness</em> is a must-read for anyone invested in the future of life on earth.”</span></strong></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt 2in;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">--Rick Bass, </span></strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">author of <em><span style="color:#000000;">The Wild Marsh: Four Seasons at Home in Montana</span></em><strong></strong></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;"></span></strong></p><p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">“In a highly original and very realistic manner, <em>Heart of Dryness</em> addresses one of the most important issues of our time. Workman's experiences and insights are fascinating. </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">Botswana</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">’s Bushmen are perhaps the most knowledgeable people in the world about water. The result is a real page-turner.” </span></strong></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt 2in;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">--Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, </span></strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">author of <em>The Old Way</em> and <em>The Harmless People</em><strong></strong></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;"></span></strong></p><p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">“A fascinating read and great adventure story. The water challenge of this century must be informed by looking back in time to traditional desert cultures like the Bushmen.”</span></strong></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt 2in;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">--Bruce Babbitt</span></strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">, former Secretary of the Interior, Chairman of the World Wildlife Fund, author of <em>Cities in the Wilderness</em><strong></strong></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;"><span> </span></span></strong></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">“<em>Heart of Dryness</em> is an investigative and story-telling triumph. Workman's near-death experience upon entering the Kalahari places him, and us, in a position so primal that compassion suffuses every ensuing perception of the Bushmen. This remarkable book speaks to every neglected water user and water source on earth, showing a way back to accountability, sustainability, abundant life, and hope.”</span></strong></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt 1.5in;text-indent:.5in;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">--<strong>David James Duncan</strong>, author of <em>The River Why</em> </span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt 1.5in;text-indent:.5in;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">&amp; <em>The Brothers K</em></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:justify;"><a></a><a><span><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;"></span></strong></span></a></p><p><font color="#000000"> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:justify;"><span><span><strong><span lang="en-gb" style="font-size:14pt;" xml:lang="en-gb">“Here are the universal politics of water uncovered by a storyteller who, from despair and tragedy in the Kalahari, opens our eyes to the planetary struggle underway to secure water for life on Earth. To win that struggle with water crisis looming, we will have to urgently learn from the water wisdom in <em>Heart of Dryness</em>.</span></strong></span></span><span></span><span></span><span lang="en-gb" style="font-size:14pt;" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt 2in;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">--Mark Smith, </span></strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">Head, Water Programme, World Conservation </span><span style="font-size:14pt;">Union</span><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;"></span></strong></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;"></span></strong></p><p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">“What distinguishes this book is Workman’s ability to unpack the complex dynamics and politics surrounding one particular water conflict in the Kalahari and provide insights into how this particular situation sheds light on wider sector challenges across the globe.  This is critical reading for those rightly concerned about the sustainability of our planet where water resources are under growing stress.</span></strong></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;"><span>                                      </span>--Ned Breslin, </span></strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">CEO</span><span style="font-size:14pt;">, Water for People<strong></strong></span></p><p></p>