Abby Quillen

Freelance Content Marketing Writer and Editor

The Denver Post

Deeper into the Heart of the Rockies

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Boulder 2

We made it home after a wonderful, whirlwind trip to Colorado, and I managed to not even take one majestic mountain photo for you. I didn’t bring my (heavy) SRL Canon with me, thinking that our point-and-shoot would do the job. With two little ones, two carry-ons, one suitcase bursting with clothes, and another sagging with 50 pounds of books, this seemed like a magnificent compromise in the airport. However, the moment we got into our rental car and wound into Turkey Creek Canyon, I longed for my camera. Even more so when our point-and-shoot charger failed us. Fortunately others have recorded bits and pieces of the book events, as evidenced above. That’s me in Boulder presenting at the Center of the American West, courtesy of Allen Best.

Both events were such magical nights that I’m afraid I can’t do them justice. I was honored to share the stage with such a number of distinguished and entertaining readers. If ever I need to produce an audio book, I know some folks who I will call first. The event in Salida, which I somehow managed to plan and execute, was crowded and hummed with an almost palpable electricity.  I talked to more people than I usually see in a month, many of whom I’ve known my entire life. And I loved every single second of it. I can’t believe what a beautiful, generous town I grew up in.

And then to speak and then read on the stage with the likes of historian Patty Limerick, Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hobbs, former High Country News publishers Ed and Betsy Marston, Denver City Auditor Dennis Gallagher, and so many more at the Center of the American West on my dad’s birthday was such a true honor that I haven’t quite digested it even more than a week later. Afterward I got to spend a couple of days with my almost eighty-two year old grandma and see all of the cousins who I played with for weeks out of every summer as a kid, as well as their big, beautiful families.

And to top it all off, I went to the Colorado Public Radio studio in Centennial, where a plate-glass window revealed the Front Range aglow in sunshine, and talked with Ryan Warner about my dad and the book. You can hear that interview here.

Now, we’re home, and I find myself in that dazed, but slightly frenzied state that descends after a big project is done, when a million ideas for what’s next start churning and you’re not sure which one to pluck out. I’m both missing Colorado and all of the excitement of last week and enjoying the quiet, calm rhythms of home. It helps somehow that the normally soggy Oregon weather has turned Colorado-like — icy and sunny, with bare bone branches twisting into blue sky.

I was taken aback for a moment at both events when I saw the speakers’ copies I’d sent out weeks ago, now with notes scrawled in margins, multicolored post-its jutting from pages, covers bent back. It is theirs now, this book I created that was once just an idea flitting through my mind. Like any long journey, I’ll never be the same as when I set off on it so many months ago, and it feels both glorious and bittersweet to be at the end of it. In some ways, it’s like saying goodbye to my dad all over again, except I feel like I know him just a little bit better after spending this long year with his words.

DITHOTR E Cover

You can learn more about Deeper into the Heart of the Rockies at edquillen.com/anthology.

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Launching the Ed Quillen Anthology

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DITHOTR E Cover

Last week, we launched my dad’s anthology into the world. It’s hard to believe that just a year ago, we started with a huge archive of columns — more than 1500 of them — and created a book. It was quite a journey from there to here, and I’m glad I embarked on it for so many reasons. Most of all, it feels great to honor my dad’s career and preserve some of his writing in a form more lasting than newspaper archives.

Leading and completing a big project, especially one where I got to collaborate with lots of interesting people — has been super satisfying. I got to sharpen lots of skills, including copy writing, copy editing, proofreading, fundraising, public relations, graphic design, and XHTML and CSS coding. I’ve also gotten a lot of practice waiting in line at the post office with two little boys, who strangely transform into bouncing balls of energy the moment they step into public buildings.

After I catch my breath, I’m excited to tackle another publishing project. I’m hooked!

Later this week, my family is heading to Colorado for a couple of book events, including one hosted by the Center of the American West in Boulder. You can learn more about the events and the book here. I’ll likely be away from this space for a couple of weeks. But in the meanwhile, you can find a column by me in Colorado Central Magazine if you live in that area, and look out for the new YES! Magazine to hit the stands. My short feature about Portland’s food carts will be in the winter issue.

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Happy Earth Day!

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In honor of the holiday, I’m posting a column my dad wrote for the April 21, 2011 Denver Post. I have a cameo appearance, and I love my dad’s hilarious and true take on how we should celebrate the day.

Replace Earth Day with Binge Day

By Ed Quillen
The Denver Post

Earth Day is Friday, and as a loyal resident of Earth, I want to celebrate properly.

I may have already found the wrong way to celebrate. In 2003, I was invited to speak at an Earth Day rally in Alamosa. Being rather immodest, I accepted.

But my 170-mile round-trip drive must have damaged the ozone layer or accelerated global warming or otherwise worsened whatever we were worried about eight years ago. The gathering in Cole Park was pleasant, but there were generators growling and smoking to provide electricity for the amplifiers. This didn’t strike me as especially Earth-friendly.

And when my stage turn came, I followed Peggy Godfrey of Moffat, who’s a cowboy poet or cowgirl poetess. However you describe her, she’s a great performer. I felt like the local garage band that somehow ended up appearing after the Rolling Stones. Peggy is a hard act to follow.

This was clearly not an appropriate Earth Day commemoration for me. But what would be?

To find out, I called the greenest person I know, my daughter Abby in Eugene, Ore. She has a big garden and keeps chickens. She and her husband, Aaron, don’t own a car; Aaron bicycles 12 miles each way to his teaching job. Abby’s always on the lookout for local foods and gentler ways to run her household — for instance, she washes her long brown hair with vinegar instead of commercial shampoo.

(I should point out that we did not raise Abby to turn out this way, as we had a car but no chickens. It’s a choice she made after graduating with honors from the University of Colorado Denver with a degree in history.)

“So how do you plan to celebrate Earth Day?” I asked Abby, expecting to hear that she’d be at a big rally in a downtown Eugene park.

“I know some people who are driving clear up to Vancouver, B.C., for an Earth Day festival.” She laughed at that irony. “But for us, it will be pretty much the same as any other day. I’ll feed the chickens, gather eggs, tend the garden, take Ezra (their 3-year-old son) for a walk, hope he naps long enough for me to get some writing done — what I do most days.”

Abby’s got the right idea here: If you care about the environment, forget about Earth Day trips and celebrations, and live simply every day. When you think about it, focusing on the environment once a year doesn’t make much sense, especially when that celebration often involves burning a lot of fuel.

But there does seem to be a basic human need for annual celebrations, and to that end I propose a yearly Binge Day.

On the other 364 days of the year, we would live simple green lives with local food and drink. We would walk, bicycle or ride public transit to get around. We would eschew gaudy imported novelties, fad electronics destined for quick obsolescence and other trashy food, goods and geegaws.

In other words, we would live prudently and sensibly, following adages like “Waste not, want not.” The global economy might contract on that account, but it seems to be doing that anyway.

On Binge Day, though, we could pig out on champagne and corn-fed prime rib. We’d rent a Hummer or an Escalade to drive to the shopping mall for an orgy of conspicuous consumption. We’d ignore the recycling bins and just toss our abundant trash in a barrel. And after the once-a-year Binge Day blowout, we’d go back to living sensibly.

Add it up, and Binge Day should be about 364 times better for the environment than Earth Day.

I’m editing an anthology of my dad’s columns. To find out more about it, visit edquillen.com. How are you celebrating Earth Day? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

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