You Have To Appreciate The Spiritual Component

I Teach A Non-fiction Writing Class At New York University, And One Of My Great Pleasures Is Deciding On The Syllabus.

The Old Orchid Hunter Lay Back On His Pillow, His Body Limp... 'you'll Curse The Insects,' He Said At Least, 'and You'll Curse The Natives... The Sun Will Burn You By Day And The Cold Will Shrivel You By Night. You'll Be Racked By Fever And Tormented By A Hundred Discomforts, But You'll Go On. For When A Man Falls In Love With Orchids, He'll Do Anything To Possess The One He Wants. It's Like Chasing A Green-eyed Woman Or Taking Cocaine... It's A Sort Of Madness.

I Love Tearing Things Out Of The Ground. I Love Digging And Discarding. I Love Pruning. In Fact, I Love Pruning So Much That I Once Gave Myself Carpal-tunnel Syndrome Because I Attacked A Trumpet Vine With So Much Dedication.

I Love Convincing A Reader That An Unusual Or Seemingly Ordinary Subject Is Worth His Or Her Time - It's Part Of The Fun For Me As A Writer.

I Never Thought Very Many People In The World Were Very Much Like John Laroche, But I Realized More And More That He Was Only An Extreme, Not An Aberration - That Most People In Some Way Or Another Do Strive For Something Exceptional, Something To Pursue, Even At Their Peril, Rather Than Abide An Ordinary Life.