JULY 2: Buffalo Street Books, Ithaca, New York

Our July Surprise!

We assumed we'd have an empty calendar after our week in metro Detroit, which coincided with the July 4th holiday. But we were wrong.

Another Witness at the Border, Lisa Neuhauser, heard we were coming and she pulled out all the stops!

First, she set up an interview between me and Ithaca Community Radio Talk-show Host, Felix Teitelbaum. We spoke while I was still in Ann Arbor for Felix’s show, Creatives. He promoted an appearance by me at Ithaca’s Buffalo Street Books. And after a lovely stop at the country’s most famous falls as well as a Rochester meet-up with Crossing the Line first-reader and blurber, Heidi Ostertag, and her husband, the documentation Bob Bilheimer (Worldwide Documentaries), we rolled through upstate New York's gorgeous Finger Lakes region and into Buffalo Street Books on July 2. We were accompanied by Lisa and her husband Greg, who also hosted us at their Seneca Lake “happy place” the night before.

We didn't know what to expect in a college town during the summer holidays, but the vibe was much like what we'd experienced elsewhere: real people hungry for real information and honest context. Ithaca folks knew, too, that what they were getting from the mainstream discourse didn't come close to reflecting reality.

Then came the surprise on top of the surprise: Borderlander Kate Scott was there — all the way from Arizona’s Coronado National Forest. Though a joy to see her, it was bittersweet too, as what brought her across the country was no me or Crossing the Line, but the unexpected passing of her father. May he rest in peace.

Holding you in my heart, always, dear Kate XOXO