Issue 11 — Artifacts & Evidence: Remembering Edwin Dobb
Issue 11 — Artifacts & Evidence: Remembering Edwin Dobb
Just over three years ago, the journalist, writer, teacher, and artist Edwin Dobb passed away suddenly and unexpectedly.
Over the span of his career, Ed's work — which often focused on environmental issues, but not exclusively — was published in Harper's magazine, National Geographic, High County News, and the New York Times Magazine, among others. For 18 years, he was a lecturer at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism — where we met in 2016. Most recently, Ed was the co-founder of Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss, an international and multidisciplinary project focused on the extraction industry. I could go on as Ed's achievements and accolades are many, but I don't intend to rewrite his obituary (you can read those here and here). Instead, I hope to share with you an incomplete compilation of Ed's work meant to serve as a small testament to a great writer, teacher, friend, and human being.
I only knew Ed for a short amount of time. First, as the person congratulating me on my acceptance into UC Berkeley, second as a writing teacher and thesis advisor, and last, as a mentor and friend. Despite our brief overlap, he was a significant figure in my life at a time that was colored by both great uncertainty and great possibility. He helped redirect my attention to writing and find a place in a journalism program that I was ready to leave. He shared my natural inclination to embrace adventure, be bold, take risks, spend time by the sea. I trusted his opinion, always. I still do.
Over the past three years, I have revisited much of our correspondence — we continued to write meandering emails long after I left Berkeley — and in doing so, have found comfort in his pragmatic idealism and the way in which he would impart lessons on reporting, writing, and living, with humility and humor. Ed never claimed to know more than those just starting out even though he very much did. Instead, he simply put forth his ideas like an offering that we could take, or leave. Of course, I took them all.
In late 2017, as I was cycling through thesis ideas — each one failing to come to fruition for one reason or another — I emailed Ed with an embarrassing note of self-pity. "I feel like a terrible journalist," I wrote. Ed, of course, responded in his eloquent, no-bullshit way.
"Utter horse shit," he wrote. "Christ, I've had dozens of stories go south on me. That's why we try to keep several ideas going at once; why we look for opportunities to revive precious ideas; why we tell ourselves, there are always more stories…"
For Ed, too, there were more stories. These are the ones we have.
Courtesy of Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss
WRITING
Note: some stories are available as PDFs, many of which Ed diligently uploaded to his own website, from where this compilation derives its name.
Why Poison Is a Growing Threat to Africa’s Wildlife, National Geographic, 2018.
Nothing But Gifts, Harper’s, 2018.
Canadian First Nations Seek to Protect Forest Homeland, National Geographic, 2015.
The New Oil Landscape, National Geographic, 2013.
There Will Be Oil, Camas: The Nature of the West, 2013.
Alaska’s Choice: Salmon or Gold, National Graphic, 2010.
The Lessons of Butte, Montana, High Country News, 2010.
Us and them vs. all the rest, High Country News, 2010.
Viewpoint: Location, Occupation, Juxtaposition, Interpenetration: Notes on
an Erotics of the Mining City, Buildings & Landscapes 17, 2010.
Immersed in the Wild, High Country News, 2010.
A Backyard Disaster in Montana — And Next Door to Everyone, Trust Magazine, 2008.
Dirty Old Town: Addiction and Betrayal in the Mining City, Drumlummon Views, 2009.
Crafting the Everyday, High Country News, 2006.
Should John Walker Lindh Go Free?, Harper’s, 2002.
Still Here, High Country News, 2000.
New Life in a Deathtrap, Discover, 2000.
Mining the Past, High Country News, 1999.
Where the Good Begins, Harper’s, 1998.
A Kiss is Still a Kiss, Harper’s, 1996.
Pennies From Hell, Harper’s, 1996.
Without Earth, There is No Heaven, Harper’s, 1995.
Nearly always, Ed ended his correspondence with the same phrase, one that was both poetic, a nod to Dylan Thomas, and practical. Since starting this newsletter, I have adopted it myself — partly in remembrance of Ed, and partly to remember that life is meant to be truly lived.
Rage On. ❤️🔥
Thank you for reading this edition of Defender. This week, I'm leaving for Italy where I'll be reporting on the increasing criminalization of environmental activism in Europe and will hopefully send a short newsletter from the road. If you’d like to support my work you can buy me a coffee, or check out my Bookshop page. Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far — it is so very appreciated.
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