Winter 2013

Editor’s Note

“I think that the most important thing is to cherish your place,” said Shigeatsu Hatakeyama, a Japanese oyster farmer helping to rebuild his community after the 2011 tsunami. Hatakeyama’s story of resiliency is just one of those recounted by alumnus Drew Tanabe in his article “The Sea and the Forest Are Lovers.”

Resiliency has been a sort of theme at Marlboro this year, which started with an orientation reading of Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac and discussion of “community, land and resilience.” It continues with this issue of Potash Hill, from an article by Gary Johnson about computer models of ecosystem services to the personal resilience evoked in an excerpt from Deni Béchard’s recent memoir, Cures for Hunger. Even history professor Adam Franklin-Lyons’ work on medieval mail couriers indicates a surprising degree of physical resilience long before running shoes were invented.

As always, we are interested in hearing your news and spirited reactions to this issue of Potash Hill. You can see letters in response to the last issue on page 45. —Philip Johansson, editor

Front cover: “After the Flood,” a work in recycled sewing patterns, oil, glue and balsa wood by art professor Cathy Osman. Photo by Timothy Segar