Category Archives: Essays

A Personal Narrative: The Peace Corps’ First Two Years in Sarawak 1962-1964

This essay was first published in spring 2018 in the Borneo Research Bulletin. It was written after an invitation from the editor of the Bulletin, Clifford Sather, for an edition of the Bulletin meant to focus on the early days of … Continue reading

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No Stranger to Change: The Oyster Bay of Katie Gale

No Stranger to Change: The Oyster Bay of Katie Gale Presented at NW History meetings in Portland in Spring 2014 LLyn De Danaan, Ph.D. Emerita, The Evergreen State College June 2014 “History is usually written by the winners. Their lives … Continue reading

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Spoil and Gob: The Remainders of Life March 2016

Spoil and Gob: The Remainders of Life                        The author with her father and mother as they inspect a model of the house he later built.   by LLyn De Danaan It could begin with fear of the Internal Revenue Service, … Continue reading

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Sleep, Putter, Die March 6, 2016

SLEEP, PUTTER, DIE LLyn De Danaan March 6, 2016 I’ve been floundering around, as in writhing in my own existential quasi-despair, for some time, and the recent death of a close friend finally did me in. It wasn’t as if … Continue reading

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Karen Maria James: a very personal tribute to a life well led

Karen Maria James: a very personal tribute to a life well led By LLyn De Danaan February 27, 2016   We always said we’d grow old together. We did…we just didn’t notice. For we whose glory days were arguably the … Continue reading

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The Glorious Pain in the Ass of Travel: February 2016

From 30,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean No doubt I have been inordinately influenced by my recent reading of Geoff Dyer whose discourse on D.H. Lawrence’ travels and his own have made me reconsider and reflect upon my own unsettled … Continue reading

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Fragility and Spirit

Fragility and Spirit February 24, 2009 at 8:38pm I stopped to see my mother at Garden Courte Memory Care today after class and on my way to Tacoma. I hadn’t seen her in a couple of weeks. She’s lost more … Continue reading

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Aunt Ethel

Vinton and Jackson Counties in southeastern Ohio were raw when I was a kid. The Appalachian hills round about Wellston and McArthur and Jackson seemed wild places, full of copper head snakes and stills and strip mines and rusty streams. … Continue reading

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Mother Did Not Like to Camp

Mother Did Not Like to Camp March 4, 2009 at 7:27am Mother did not like to camp. That didn’t stop my Father from planning camping trips. We set out one summer for a two week tour of New England. Dad … Continue reading

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Lelah Davis’ Guide to Beauty and Right Living

Lelah Davis’ Guide to Beauty and Right Living March 7, 2009 at 2:52pm 1. Roll up your sleeves: you’ll look ten years younger. 2. Stick scotch tape between your eyebrows when you sleep. It will prevent frown lines from forming. … Continue reading

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