A story can mean different things at different times. In 2019, I first told this one, Cara Lopez Lee Gets A Reporting Job (a.k.a. The Boss of Last Resort) for Daniel David Shapiro's podcast, Two Truths and a Lie. It's the story of the most racist, sexist, intolerant...
Alaska
Escape The Pandemic: Read a Book!
Wish you could run away from Pandemic 2020? Try escaping into a book! I've been reading books by other authors—turns out most books are by other authors. But if you haven't read mine yet, then please check out They Only Eat Their Husbands. It's my memoir of how I ran...
Cara Gets a Reporting Job – Storytelling at Two Truths and a Lie (Podcast)
I suspect we all have a story about some crazy boss who we feared might destroy our lives. I recently shared such a story on Daniel David Shapiro's podcast, Two Truths and a Lie. There is so much unbelievable drama in real life, but also so much surprising truth in...
Just Me and My Cross – Cara Wins The Moth StorySlam in L.A.
? After more than a year striving to find my voice in the world of oral storytelling, I won The Moth StorySlam in L.A. on January 23, 2018. The night's topic was Achilles' Heel. It was humbling to win with a story about my weaknesses. I now qualify to compete in a...
The Kayak Affair – Cara Tells a Story, Live, at the Two Truths and a Lie Podcast
I'm having a blast in the world of oral storytelling, and you can hear me tell my latest story in the podcast Two Truths & a Lie. Or you can watch the video below. In this live storytelling show, three performers share personal stories. The catch? One of us is...
HURLED INTO THE KENAI FJORDS: An Alaskan Adventure You Won’t Find in Travel Brochures – by Guest Trekker Laura JK Chamberlain
“-est”… That's how I'd describe Alaska. It's the United States’ furthest northwest state, with the Aleutian Islands reaching further west than Hawaii. It has North America’s highest mountain – Mount McKinley - the largest national park, the largest national forest,...
AN ALASKAN SECRET: Part Two – by Guest Trekker Ron Shale
“You hear that?” I asked. “Stop and listen.” Diane and I stood quiet, catching our breath, heart rates slowing. “No, all I hear is Esther coming, crunching the snow.” We were walking single file on one of our frozen tire tracks. Esther was about half a minute back. We...
AN ALASKAN SECRET: Part One – by Guest Trekker Ron Shale
John, our new neighbor, was lost, and we had lost him in an Alaskan winter. The kind of far north winter that had grainy snow that crunched when you walked on it. Snow so white, so bright, shadows disappeared, and you’d walk out into thin air not knowing, falling so...
BOOK LAUNCHING & MOUNTAIN CLIMBING… & winning a free copy of “They Only Eat Their Husbands”
FALSE SUMMIT When I lived in Alaska, I interviewed the youngest girl to summit America’s highest peak, Denali. I interviewed then-12-year-old Merrick Johnston before her 1995 climb. She said she used to be afraid of crevasses, but after plenty of training she liked to...
A CALIFORNIA GIRL AT THE ALASKA STATE FAIR: Cream Puffs, Dead Turtles, and Beach Boys
On one of the closing days of an Alaska summer, my husband and I take his sister and her husband to the State Fair in Palmer. When I lived in the Last Frontier, I enjoyed the fair year after year, even though it’s small – because it’s small. This will be a perfect way...