Table Mountain Tales, Stories, Poems and Essays Celebrating Golden, Colorado 2003 and 2004
A review by Irma Wyhs
This book could very well be the best publicity ever for the Golden city. It is especially appealing to those interested in the geography, in nature, or history, the unique present, possible future, the town's true character, tales of fond recollection, old times, good times, new times and yes, even legends. Of course, that means it will appeal to just about everybody, doesn't it?
It's a "gotta read" book for townspeople who will be better acquainted with and will make them even more proud of their town. And for outsiders it is a stimulating study of the town and surrounding land, including the intriguing mesas. There is a possible disadvantage to this: they will all want to move here.
The Tales, written by a number of students as well as adults, include more than seventy stories ranging from those simple and short and straight from the heart to magnificent word-smithing as in Bryan Spencer's The Margins, without a doubt some of the best descriptive verse-prose ever written, showing a vast understanding of and a near-mystical sense of the land.
Patrick Hart has deftly pin-pointed what it is to be a "regular Golden boy;” Mesa lovers know their nature and how to tell about it. Nina Shilodon's Guardians and Peter Ewers toast to a decade of running the Tables are good examples; great contrast, too, between the comfort zone of homey remembrances and imaginative stuff of which legends are born.
There is pathos: The story concerning the 1888 White Ash Mine disaster and the ten men who could not be recovered, whose bodies lie Below the Swings, as written by Jenna Park who thought of them as she played in the park above the site.
The photos are reproduced in black and white only but they are still spectacular and show why people so easily fall in love with this country. An "ode" to the spirituality for some in this place which frees them from the daily grind ... “I run. I run. I am the sky. I am an audience of one...moving..through an ocean of grass.”
-- Julia Mulligan, The Table Setting.
There is mystery: This Old House Comes with Bones, Gene Child. There is excitement: A new story about The Blizzard of 1913 -- Arlone Child. There is danger on The Mesa, ...lots of rattlesnakes and garter snakes and red ants...ouch! -- Flynn Sucker; good fictional legend explaining The Lion Face on South Table -- Ryan Wareham
And on and on... This is a present, not only to send to friends and kin, but for everyone who reads about this town ...
“Here at the rise of the Rockies
where the continent thickens to its mountainous best,
the Front Range
culminating here
in steep plateaus...telling a story
about lava & rivers
& time”
-- The Margins, Bryan Spencer
Table Mountain Tales, Stories, Poems and Essays Celebrating Golden, Colorado 2003 and 2004
The 150-page book includes winning submissions from 2003 and 2004 as well as all submissions for 2004 to the Table Mountain Tales writing contest. Contents include poetry, essays and fiction from children, teens and adults. Some stories will bring a tear to the eye and others a chuckle to the lips. Many of the entries relate experiences of young people and adults climbing, hiking, daydreaming, and running on North and South Table Mountains, which dominate Golden’s landscape. The book includes 35 photos taken by local photographers of animals, plants and panoramic views of and from the mountains.
The price of the book is $10.
The book will be available at the Golden Landmarks Association booth during the following events:
11th Street Golden Fine Arts Festival August 23 & 24th.
Mesa Music Fest in Lions Park August 28.
GoldenFest at 12th and Cheyenne Streets on September 10, 2005
The book is also available at the Golden Landmarks Association office, 805B 14th Street, Golden, CO 80401 (phone 303 279 1236, hours: Mon - Fri, hours 10-12), or by mail.