Ken McAlpine
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About Me:
Ken McAlpine's writing has appeared in national magazines and newspapers; his magazine articles have earned three Lowell Thomas awards, the top award in the industry for travel writing. His latest book "Islands Apart: A Year on the Edge of Civilization" based on the Channel Islands and other Southern California communities is a thoughtful and funny look at our fast-paced contemporary life, and how time spent alone in nature can give us a fresh perspective about what matters most. He is based in Ventura, California.
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My KCET.org Activities
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Mist blew in. I tasted salt on both our lips.
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There's a new Walmart in Simi Valley. It's the second Walmart there -- on the same street, miles away. What do all these big boxes in Ventura County mean?
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It's the people you never hear of who really make a difference. And the boys from New Jersey and the California surfboard shaper fit that bill.
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I do worry about the children. How do they see a bulletproof backpack? What do they think about a playground fenced off on the weekend? What does this look like to someone who still believes in Santa Claus?
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There is no place I'd rather be than here in salt-laced, downy-soft nightfall. There aren't words for this sort of happiness. It is like falling in love. Huell understood.
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What is right, wrong, innocence, guilt?
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As the world marks another year's passing, life, the onrushing gift, might best be unwrapped with a moonlit neighborhood walk.
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Did it or didn't it? The end of the world, or a new beginning?
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Looking for the perfect Holiday gift? Here it is, courtesy of a Benedictine monk with a marvelous sense of humor.
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In this world where so many things are going wrong, so many things are also going right -- like this choir program in Ventura County.
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The end of Jalama Road in Santa Barbara County may be beautiful, but dawdling along it can be just as rejuvenating.
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I whistle as I drive because this road makes me happy, and long ago I ascertained that getting lost presents no problem if you don't care.
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Should you travel to Morro Rock (and you should), you are apt to meet Bob Isenberg. He's been there, off and on, since 1969. He's easy to find. In his words, "Look for the guy with the tripod."
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In this cacophonous age when almost everyone is shouting to be noticed, quiet speaks loudly.
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There's so much debate, din, and shouting in politics. But beneath all the noise, I hear the whisper of things lost.
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"Hearst broke down social strata," says Jim Allen of Hearst Castle. "He was definitely a Californian."
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Something is seriously wrong when our most important asset -- the education system -- has to ask for money.
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"I want to go away and see things," she told me. Many people say this sort of thing. Not so many have Stage 3 cancer. She had a bucket list, she said. Ambling around the country, going nowhere in particular, was on it.
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Should you visit Piedras Blancas beach, I advise you visit in the evening's last light. There is something bizarrely ethereal and comforting about the gloaming that drapes itself on this stretch of sand seven miles north of San Simeon.
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I'm betting that the issue of homelessness gives all of us pause.
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This natural glory so close to civilization, the Santa Monica Mountains are a wonderful weirdness.
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The new science of "surfonomics" is now attempting to place a dollar value on waves, but there's no dollar amount one can put on the experience.
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A Ventura filmmaker and artist is making a documentary on the man who had creative ADHD and forty-eight hours in his day.
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Life is short, and Ventura author Ken McAlpine shares a handful of simple, yet important lines of advice he once shared with a friend's son.
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On average, less than a dozen humans are killed by sharks each year, and it feeds worldwide fear and media fascination. But an estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year by fishermen.
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Little things are often more interesting and, if you pay close attention, they sometimes dole out lessons applicable to very big things.
Recent Actions from Ken McAlpine
No recommendations yet.
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Mist blew in. I tasted salt on both our lips.
-
There's a new Walmart in Simi Valley. It's the second Walmart there -- on the same street, miles away. What do all these big boxes in Ventura County mean?
-
It's the people you never hear of who really make a difference. And the boys from New Jersey and the California surfboard shaper fit that bill.
-
I do worry about the children. How do they see a bulletproof backpack? What do they think about a playground fenced off on the weekend? What does this look like to someone who still believes in Santa Claus?
-
There is no place I'd rather be than here in salt-laced, downy-soft nightfall. There aren't words for this sort of happiness. It is like falling in love. Huell understood.
-
What is right, wrong, innocence, guilt?
-
As the world marks another year's passing, life, the onrushing gift, might best be unwrapped with a moonlit neighborhood walk.
-
Did it or didn't it? The end of the world, or a new beginning?
-
Looking for the perfect Holiday gift? Here it is, courtesy of a Benedictine monk with a marvelous sense of humor.
-
In this world where so many things are going wrong, so many things are also going right -- like this choir program in Ventura County.
