“Love, Life, and Elephants,†A New Book by Dame Daphne Sheldrick
On my last trip to Nairobi, I had the pleasure of meeting Dame Daphne Sheldrick at the elephant orphanage she founded in 1977. I remember the mix of joy and sadness I felt upon entering the orphanage. Joy at seeing those miniature-sized elephants frolicking in the mud. Sadness at learning that their parents were brutally murdered by poachers who left these babies to wander in the bush.
“We came to learn how intelligent these elephants are, with a familial instinct and an astounding memory,” Sheldrick told me as we sat at an outdoor table in the back patio of her house. Then her expression suddenly turned grave as she noted, “the elephant community is in a lot of trouble. Not only is poaching on the rise, but the intrusion of livestock into protected areas has led to a scarcity of water.”
If last week’s New York Times article on the surge of African ivory being transported to Asia is any indication, the only elephants we might be seeing in the future will be orphans. You can read about Dame Daphne Sheldrick’s fascinating life in her just released memoir, “Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story.”
Celebrate Valentine’s Day on the Maine coast, where Kennebunkport is 
It’s been called the finest forest drive in the world, a 32-mile stretch of road that winds through 17,000 acres of old-growth redwood forest. 
I knew the Niagara biking would be stellar and any performance at the Shaw Festival a treat, but to be honest, I wasn’t very excited to try the Ontario wines. Blame it on the annual Canada dinner in Boston each May when Ontario Tourism would bring the sweetest Icewine they could find for us journalists to sample. I admit, I was ignorant and thankfully this past week received a phenomenal education from Ontario wine expert, Erin Henderson. As co-founder of 
Another great spot to escape the crowds is 
Today marks the official 100th anniversary of the national park system. To coincide with the centennial, President Obama announced yesterday that Roxanne Quimby’s 87,654 acres located just east of Baxter State Park will make the list as the North Woods National Monument. On Tuesday, Quimby’s nonprofit, Elliotsville Plantation Inc., transferred her ownership to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Long a proponent of creating a national park in Maine’s North Woods, Quimby, the co-founder of Burt’s Bees skin care products, has been a contentious figure in the region ever since I’ve been reporting on Maine. In a 
In the mid-90s, I was hired by Art & Antiques Magazine to write a story on the period of time painter Georgia O’Keeffe and her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, lived on the shores of Lake George. This was to coincide with a photography exhibition of Stieglitz’s work at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. I knew renowned abstract sculptor David Smith lived in Bolton Landing, but I honestly had no idea O’Keeffe lived in Lake George, since she’s far better known for her New Mexican motif. From 1918 to 1934, O’Keeffe would spend a good portion of her summer at the lake. She would return to Lake George for the last time in 1946 to spread Stieglitz’s ashes at the foot of a pine tree on the shores of the lake. Today, those ashes lie on the grounds of the Tahoe Motel. Next door, the house they lived in, Oaklawn, is still standing at The Quarters of the Four Seasons Inn. On a wall next to my desk, I have a poster of a dreamy mountain and lake landscape simply titled Lake George (1922). My brother, Jim, purchased this for me at the San Francisco Museum of Art, where the original O’Keeffe oil still hangs.