Winter In Taos

"Winter in Taos" starkly contrasts Luhan's memoirs, published in four volumes and inspired by Marcel Proust's "Remembrances of Things Past." They follow her life through three failed marriages, numerous affairs, and ultimately a feeling of "being nobody in myself," despite years of psychoanalysis and a luxurious lifestyle on two continents among the leading literary, art and intellectual personalities of the day. "Winter in Taos" unfolds in an entirely different pattern, uncluttered with noteworthy names and ornate details. With no chapters dividing the narrative, Luhan describes her simple life in Taos, New Mexico, this "new world" she called it, from season to season, following a thread that spools out from her consciousness as if she's recording her thoughts in a journal. "My pleasure is in being very still and sensing things," she writes, sharing that pleasure with the reader by describing the joys of adobe rooms warmed in winter by aromatic cedar fires; fragrant in spring with flowers; and scented with homegrown fruits and vegetables being preserved and pickled in summer. Having wandered the world, Luhan found her home at last in Taos. "Winter in Taos" celebrates the spiritual connection she established with the "deep living earth" as well as the bonds she forged with Tony Luhan, her "mountain." This moving tribute to a land and the people who eked a life from it reminds readers that in northern New Mexico, where the seasons can be harshly beautiful, one can bathe in the sunshine until "'untied are the knots in the heart,' for there is nothing like the sun for smoothing out all difficulties." Born in 1879 to a wealthy Buffalo family, Mabel Dodge Luhan earned fame for her friendships with American and European artists, writers and intellectuals and for her influential salons held in her Italian villa and Greenwich Village apartments. In 1917, weary of society and wary of a world steeped in war, she set down roots in remote Taos, New Mexico, then publicized the tiny town's inspirational beauty to the world, drawing a steady stream of significant guests to her adobe estate, including artist Georgia O'Keeffe, poet Robinson Jeffers, and authors D.H. Lawrence and Willa Cather. Luhan could be difficult, complex and often cruel, yet she was also generous and supportive, establishing a solid reputation as a patron of the arts and as an author of widely read autobiographies. She died in Taos in 1962.

This illustrations-only book tells the story of the Red Willow People of Taos Pueblo in present-day northern New Mexico. Taos Pueblo is known to be one of the longest continuously inhabited communities, designated both a UNESCO World heritage Site and a National Historic Landmark. This delightful board book is part of the Taos Pueblo Four Seasons series which was created by the Taos Pueblo’s Tiwa Language Program to preserve the Tiwa culture and revitalize the unwritten Tiwa language by teaching it to younger generations. Many other Indigenous languages also need to be revitalized, so it is the hope of the Taos Pueblo’s Tiwa Language Program that other American Indian nations will find the books useful to teach their languages to their children. Each season features a distinct and well-known Taos Pueblo artist. The beautiful, hand-drawn illustrations will also educate young children about the four seasons of the year and the plants and animals in the area. All proceeds of the book support the Taos Pueblo’s Tiwa Language Program.

The warmth of Corey’s presence was electrifying to Mia...intoxicating...and his European accent, delightful. Mia’s intense attraction to Corey was highly uncharacteristic of her, considering her strict upbringing with Grannie on the Four Corners reservation. She was forbidden as a Navajo to keep company with Anglos, but the young Native American executive felt strangely inclined to make Corey an exception to the rule. Taos Winter is an inspirational romantic novel set against a picturesque wintery backdrop in the mountains of Taos, New Mexico. Crackling fireplaces stoke the atmosphere for a love story to unfold with its moments of passion and conflict, tragedy and triumph. Supernatural pursuits by the Savior add another dimension to matters of the heart. Is there going to be a wedding? Mia’s Taos wedding? That’s left to be seen.

In 1917 Mabel Sterne, patron of the arts and spokeswoman for the New York avant-garde, came to the Southwest seeking a new life. This autobiographical account, long out-of-print, of her first few months in New Mexico is a remarkable description of an Easterner's journey to the American West. It is also a great story of personal and philosophical transformation. The geography of New Mexico and the culture of the Pueblo Indians opened a new world for Mabel. She settled in Taos immediately and lived there the rest of her life. Much of this book describes her growing fascination with Antonio Luhan of Taos Pueblo, whom she subsequently married. Her descriptions of the appeal of primitive New Mexico to a world-weary New Yorker are still fresh and moving. "I finished it in a state of amazed revelation . . . it is so beautifully compact and consistent. . . . It is going to help many another woman and man to 'take life with the talons' and carry it high."--Ansel Adams

The warmth of Corey's presence was electrifying to Mia...intoxicating...and his European accent, delightful. Mia's intense attraction to Corey was highly uncharacteristic of her, considering her strict upbringing with Grannie on the Four Corners reservation. She was forbidden as a Navajo to keep company with Anglos, but the young Native American executive felt strangely inclined to make Corey an exception to the rule. Taos Winter is an inspirational romantic novel set against a picturesque wintery backdrop in the mountains of Taos, New Mexico. Crackling fireplaces stoke the atmosphere for a love story to unfold with its moments of passion and conflict, tragedy and triumph. Supernatural pursuits by the Savior add another dimension to matters of the heart. Is there going to be a wedding? Mia's Taos wedding? That's left to be seen.

The Winter book depicts life on the Taos Pueblo during the cold months of winter.

Drawing on newly uncovered archives, The Only Wonderful Things offers a groundbreaking look at American novelist Willa Cather's creative process by arguing that the writer's life partner, magazine editor Edith Lewis, had a crucial impact on Cather's literary work.