Molly's essays specialize in nature and environmental writing cut with cultural and societal critique. Writing from her home community in the Southern Rocky Mountains, her favorite muse is wilderness and its inherent metaphor, especially as it winds through the passion and tenacity of mountain people living in the rhythms of their untamed home.
Molly believes writing is a powerful vehicle for change - educating and motivating towards the preservation of our wild places and the assurance of human rights. To this end she devotedly pens her regular op-ed column and blog, Earth Muffin Memos, and is currently working on a compilation of her essays and stories. Molly holds Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in literature, specializing in creative, nature and environmental writing with over 400 published articles (and counting).
Creative Writing:
Why We Need Wilderness
The irony of running a program that preserves open space from indoors and behind a glaring computer sequestered from anything natural except a house plant, is not lost on me. Eerie electronic vibrations emanate from the screen, I am sure disrupting the energy of my own force field, making it messy, erratic, even black. The crazy machine whirs at me, as if trying to take flight, or just to haughtily project its own self-importance in my face. My ass pools like lead into the seat of my chair. Through the skylight above my desk I see leaves twisting and shuttering in the light breeze. A robin teases me from the aspen branch, cocking its head back and forth in search of worms below, then flaunts his freedom by zipping off into the blueness of a summer’s sky that is leaking onto my computer keys.
I can’t take it.
My back hurts. My neck hurts. My heart hurts
Education & Connection Opportunities
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Seasoned and versatile as an educator, Molly teaches a variety of courses through many different educational venues in addition to leading backcountry hikes and naturalist excursions. Nature writing, environmental literature, creative writing, backcountry travel ethics and skills, and natural history are just some of her areas of expertise. Her breadth of teaching ranges from credit-seeking undergraduate and graduate students to non-credit seeking adults and community courses.