Returning to the Branch

Anyone who has ever read Alan Rhodes' writing knows this guy can be really funny and a bit serious at the same time. Whether he's examining the issue of growth or exhorting the importance of free speech, he can make nearly anyone laugh—often at ourselves.

Returning to the Branch is gathered from newspaper columns Alan wrote for local publications in Bellingham, WA. For each he has added a short explanation of the context and his reason for writing it, and in some cases information about subsequent events related to the piece.

Alan Rhodes’ boyhood career goal was to become a professional magician. He later abandoned this plan and enrolled in college when he discovered that by majoring in English he could get a diploma for reading novels. He taught high school English in Arizona and California before moving to Bellingham where he and his wife now live. He writes a monthly column for the Cascadia Weekly and appears regularly on the Chuckanut Radio Hour. His interests include compulsive reading, sauntering, classic jazz, quixotic dreams of a socialist utopia, vegetarian cooking and adventure travel to remote and uncomfortable places.