Dan White

I’m going to do a podcast soon in which I’ll read something old (well, not that old — it’s something from The Cactus Eaters, involving a possible case of mistaken identity and a dirty knife) and a very small section of a work so brand-new it doesn’t even have a name just yet. Will post that link when it’s ready. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Exciting news, and this is the first I’ve heard about it. Thanks to my brother, Phil, for sending this in. Scott is the most prolific PCT hiker ever, and he’s even yo-yo’d the trail (southern to northern terminus, then northern terminus to southern terminus in one sustained effort) on more than one occasion. Amazing accomplishments, to say the least. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Anonymous has won the contest. Thanks for all the people who sent in — although now I’m wondering if only one person sent in, but did so many times. Incorrect answers included Jesse James — who is not a novelist — and Robert Louis Stevenson. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

OK, sharp-eyed Cactuseaters readers. Let’s see if you can guess the identity of the mustache-wearing guy in the photo projected on the big screen behind Dr. Abraham Verghese. If you think you’ve got the right answer, send me an email, and if you’re the first one that comes in, I’ll put your name in my blog. The original version of the story included a dead giveaway, but I removed it just to make it more challenging for you…) Anyhow, here is the link to my story on Dr. Abraham Verghese. I have an alternate and much longer version that goes into (much) more detail. If you’d like me to post that longer version as well, send me an email. Otherwise, you know I’ll forget to do it. By the way, I should point out that he broke down barriers between himself and the audience by making his presentation as informal…

How many people do you know who can remove a human appendix, and then rush home and crank out a bunch of really good sestinas? How many people do you know who can write smoothly paced novellas while waiting to be called up to perform brain surgery? Not many, I would guess. The successful doctor/successful writer hybrid is one of life’s enduring mysteries. You’d think it would take a lifetime to reach eminence in just one of those professions. But that hasn’t stopped such physician/authors as Anton Chekhov, Oliver Sacks, Richard Selzer, Ethan Canin, or, for that matter, Abraham Verghese, who is visiting Santa Cruz today to give a lecture and visit students. The title of tonight’s sold-out lecture: The Art of Medicine In The Era of Homo Technologicus. I always want to know: how on earth does anyone have time to be a writer/physician, or even have time to…

Will need a few days to recharge my slug-depleted batteries. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Here are some scenes from the Slug fete that took place on Tuesday. The first two photos are by Carolyn Lagatutta, and the one on the bottom was taken by Lisa Nielsen. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

It looks like sales of the upcoming 36 Hours anthology, which includes two of my New York Times columns, are going well, even though the book isn’t even out yet. Pre-order yours right here. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Check this out, especially paragraph four, which I encourage you to read in public, preferably in an obnoxiously loud and braying voice. How about them bananas? http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Hey everybody, at long last, here are my slug cookies, produced (with my home-made banana slug cookie cutter and cartoon design) by the Buttery. We handed a bunch out today and they went fast, and we hear there are only three left at the Buttery itself. Some people ate a whole fistful at once. They’re going to sugar-crash so hard! Long live Sammy the Slug. When I first saw these I flipped out. It’s like seeing one of my cartoons or doodles transformed into a food item. And then you start seeing people biting off their heads and nibbling on their little antennae and you feel like saying, “No, no, no, hey you, stop, that’s mine!” Artful cookie photo by Carolyn Lagatutta http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default