Essays on NOLS (the National Outdoor Leadership School)

These essays were the product of tension between my vision of what NOLS should be, and the direction the school was actually headed in the years I worked there.

They may be of interest to people who work for NOLS, or think they might want to, and people who have taken or are considering taking a NOLS course.

What The Traveller Saw January 1998

Behind the official description is the real world of NOLS [11,000 words]

An Industry In The Wilderness December 1997

An inspired outdoor community wrecks on the reef of a corporate model. [6200 words]

30 Days To Oblivion 1991

How to Course Lead your first course and live to tell the tale. [1800 words] [background notes]

Tending the Gate December 1991

A Study In the Rituals of Admission To A Community[2300 words] [background notes]

 A Modest Proposal May 1991

The instructors are outflanked by the administration [1100 words]

 What We're About May 1991

The article that started it all: NOLS rejected it for the 1991 State of the School Report [700 words] [background notes]

Marketing the Sacred Space October 1990

Can a real wilderness experience be "marketed?" [1400 words] [background notes]