About Me
Howdy! I’m George. I decided that I was simply going to have to have my own little corner of the Internet where I could attempt to control the chaos. So…welcome to The Grinning Dwarf Pub! I hope to provide a place where divergent viewpoints can be discussed civilly. Yes…I expect to talk about politics and religion! (I thought about naming the place Oil & Water!) Help me prove that we can talk about controversial topics with civility and grace. And since anybody who knows me also knows I can never be serious about anything for too long, expect a smorgasbord of topics…not just politics and religion. (Baseball season is right around the corner. And music/book/movie/TV show discussions are always on-topic here!)
April 27, 2014: Well…that was the plan when I started! The Pub is turning into something different.
I came to California from northern Illinois in 1986 with the vague ambition of working in the mountains and forests. I found myself in the best possible place to realize that ambition. I joined the California Conservation Corps. For the next three years, I found myself repairing salmon creek habitat, building trail, fighting wildfires, restoring historical landmarks, planting trees, and clearing brush alongside some of California’s most beautiful highways. And there are thousands of people out there with stories just like mine. However, I could not find any CCC memoirs in print anywhere I looked. Somebody has to start writing this stuff down. So here’s a start…
The Grinning Dwarf Pub 
Adam Somers
June 24, 2014 at 8:30 am
Dear George, My name is Adam Somers. I am working as a volunteer with the CCC to create an anthology of writing from any Backcountry Trails Program alumnus that wants to share their experience as a corps member either from the point-of-view of their time in the BC Program from journal entries, etc. or from the perspective of looking back on the experience and its impact on their lives today for example. I was wondering if you could publish this on your blog and have submissions sent to my email address. The deadline is roughly the end of August. I would also be interested in poetry, short stories, memoir from the BC Program experience as well.
If you need more information or any further clarification, please email me.
Thanks,
Adam
GrinningDwarf
June 26, 2014 at 5:38 am
I would be happy to, Adam! I’ll post the info here, and over at my other bog, where I’m moving all of my Backcountry stories to.
Have you posted this info over at the Backcountry Trails Alumni Facebook page? That gets a lot more viewers than my poor blog! I’d be happy to post your info over there as well.
Thanks, and have a great day!
Adam Somers
June 26, 2014 at 9:00 am
Dear George, I got fed up with FaceBook and de-activated my account. I could go through my wife’s account, but I think that would be confusing. So, if you don’t mind, I would appreciate you posting on the alumni site. You can give out my email address. I don’t have any concerns about those folks having it.
Will I be receiving something from you? It seems like you are in an excellent position to connect the value of the BC Trails experience to what you are doing today and probably have some great journal entries from your time as a crew member.
In any event, thanks for putting this information out there.
Adam