The Long Way Home

The Long Way Home

  The only time I ever got motion sickness was in a helicopter as the pilot kept turning it in circles over the coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. He wanted the passengers on both sides of the copter to get a good view of the lava pouring into the ocean. It was...

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Lost in Deep Waters: A One-in-a-Million Rescue

Lost in Deep Waters: A One-in-a-Million Rescue

By Doug Peterson It was pitch dark, it was storming, and Seth Kerlin had no idea if he was heading toward shore or if he was being sucked out to the open ocean. If his small boat capsized or if he was swept out to sea, Seth would not survive. The boat, just a small,...

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Publishers Weekly Reviews ‘The Call of the Mild’

Publishers Weekly Reviews ‘The Call of the Mild’

Publishers Weekly, the main trade magazine for the publishing industry, recently featured a nice review for my latest book, The Call of the Mild. The book, which I co-wrote with Torry Martin, is a sequel to Of Moose and Men, and it continues the wild but true...

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The Vandal and the Artist

The Vandal and the Artist

Hundreds of people were packed into a side chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome when a bearded man with long, red hair suddenly scrambled over a marble railing and bolted up the stairs leading to one of the most famous works of art in the world—Michelangelo’s...

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Crossing the Bridge of Sighs

Crossing the Bridge of Sighs

I made my way through the narrow passage, following a single-file line of tourists. But if this were the 1600s, I would be following a line of prisoners, and our friendly tour guide with the headset would most likely be our jailer. I reached one of the small windows...

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Poland, 1979: We Want God! We Want God!

Poland, 1979: We Want God! We Want God!

        In 1979, schoolteachers in Poland were told to inform their students that the man about to visit their country “is our enemy.” Teachers were urged to explain to their classes that this man’s sense of humor and great communication...

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From God’s Restaurant to Mars Hill

From God’s Restaurant to Mars Hill

The sky was as blue as the Aegean Sea when my wife and I left our hotel and hiked off to visit the Parthenon, the ancient ruins of a temple that has stood at the heart of Athens for about 2,500 years. Before we climbed the winding slope leading up to the Acropolis,...

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The Greatest Escape

The Greatest Escape

I trudged along a canal in Berlin back in 2011, hoping to see the inside of one of the few remaining watchtowers in the city—a guard tower where East Berlin soldiers kept an eagle eye out for people escaping to West Berlin. The guards had shoot-to-kill orders. When...

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A Light in Rome

A Light in Rome

    Imagine you are in ancient Rome inside the famous building, the Pantheon, and it is noon on April 21—the traditional anniversary date for the birth of Rome. Light pours through a circular opening in the Pantheon’s massive domed roof, streaming down...

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Cubs Win! The Crazy 1908 Season

Cubs Win! The Crazy 1908 Season

  If you were among the millions who watched the dramatic seventh game of the World Series last year, you might have come away thinking you saw the greatest game of all time. The game was a nail-biter, as the Chicago Cubs finally won their first World Series...

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History by the Slice