Almost 10 years ago I wrote this news article after interviewing Patty Limerick. At the time I was the editor of a community newspaper in Grand County, Colorado. I spoke with her on the phone and later met her at the event. It’s so fun to go back and read the stories I wrote when I worked in journalism. I really enjoyed it.
Patty Limerick to speak at GCHS meeting in Granby, CO
Her book she spoke about:
A few months later I left Colorado and moved back to New Hampshire. While in New Hampshire I wrote a lot about the west. I didn’t miss being in Colorado, at first, but then tried to get back and nothing worked out.
I wish I had stayed, I miss being west of the Mississippi.
But alas, I now live in the mountains of Tennessee and started a Master’s Degree in History and studying Limerick. My first research topic is Frederick Jackson Turner, and his Frontier Thesis which is a classic historical argument about what shaped the western United States. I’m reading all the historians who shaped western American history writing during 1800s. This topic is very interesting, and my class is hard. I’ve included Limerick’s most famous book Legacy of Conquest, where she challenges Turner’s interpretation of the West, in my first paper.
I enjoy research and reading Western American History so getting a Master’s in it makes sense. My days are spent researching, reading and writing, so I’m not spending as much time hiking and running as I’d like.
What’s been incredibly interesting to me is how contemporary western writing starts and ends with Turner; agreeing or disagreeing with his Frontier Thesis. Recently published historians always seem to mention him, and all he forgot in his theory – diversity.
More to come on this.
I’m trying to still hike and run and train and lift weights. Managing it all is fun times, for sure. I’m always up for a physical and mental challenge.
My curiosity about the world and ideas has never been satiated, and I don’t think it ever will. I’m so excited for this next year of throwing myself into the world of history, research, and writing. This is just another way I’m choosing to challenge myself, keep learning, and stay curious about the world.
