A Dream Beyond the Fog, Toward the Ashes

Jobs, Journalism, Justice

Contributing Writer

Articles by Robin Lindley

Stories of torment, stories of hope

By Robin Lindley | January 6, 2011

Medicine is storytelling," writes acclaimed cancer specialist and now bestselling writer Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of "The Emperor of Maladies: A Biography of Cancer," named one of the Top Ten Books of 2010 by the New York Times as well as other publications. So I began my interview with the very busy Dr. Mukherjee by telling my cancer story. ...

On the trail of the poet

By Robin Lindley | August 18, 2010

The small towns of Washington, Oregon and especially Montana triggered or inspired many of the major, career-defining poems of Richard Hugo. From each place, says poet and founding director of Richard Hugo House Frances McCue, images led to memorable works "that capture the torque between temperament and terrain that is so vital in any consideration of place." ...

At the cutting edge

By Robin Lindley | July 28, 2010

By now, it's likely you've marveled at the art of acclaimed Olympia artist and paper-cutting master Nikki McClure, renowned for her elaborate, lacy illustrations that adorn calendars, posters, greeting cards and books. ...

An ill-considered thirst

By Robin Lindley | July 14, 2010

Every second ...

Preventing and curing conflict

By Robin Lindley | July 7, 2010

The cost of war is often measured in the physical destruction . . . the number of dead. But probably worse is the psychological and spiritual toll. This cost takes generations to heal. It cripples and perverts whole societies. --Chris Hedges, War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning (2003) ...

Remembering Spokane’s champion for social justice

By Robin Lindley | June 16, 2010

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from the Birmingham Jail (1963)

Spokane's Carl Maxey overcame a childhood of deprivation and discrimination to gain acclaim as an admired attorney and a fighter for justice. In Eastern Washington, he worked tirelessly to achieve Dr. King's dream of a more fair and tolerant society. When Maxey died in 1997, he was described as a "Type-A Gandhi" in The New York Times. ...

The human face of war

By Robin Lindley | March 17, 2010

In a recent column entitled "The Pictures of War You Aren't Supposed to See," esteemed journalist Chris Hedges describes the nature of modern war: "War is brutal and impersonal. It mocks the fantasy of individual heroism and the absurdity of utopian goals like democracy. In an instant, industrial warfare can kill dozens, even hundreds of people, who never see their attackers. The power of these industrial weapons is indiscriminate and staggering. ....The wounds, for those who survive, result in terrible burns, blindness, amputation and lifelong pain and trauma. ...

Demystifying the Presidency

By Robin Lindley | February 10, 2010

In his unprecedented account "The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President," historian Taylor Branch offers a vivid and candid portrayal of the inner workings of a modern presidency based on 79 secret conversations with President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. ...

The best of our Q-n-A’s: He said, She said

By Rosette Royale, Cydney Gillis, and Robin Lindley | December 30, 2009

"Faulkner was asked what a writer needs to create what he had done. He said, "It ain't talent." I agree with him. Talent doesn't hurt, but the main thing, he said, was "curiosity, insight, to wonder, to mull and to muse why it is man does what he does." He said if you've got that, then talent doesn't make much difference." --Andre Dubus III, author of "The Garden of Last Days." [Nov. 11-17] ...