Eric Simons: Writing


	Taking notes during a brief between-blizzard break in Chile.

WRITING: I'm the author of Darwin Slept Here (February 2009, Overlook Press), a history and adventure-travel biography of Charles Darwin's four years in South America. I've also worked a number of writing jobs, going all the way back to a two-year stint in the offices of the Castro Valley High School Olympian. (Note that at least half that time was spent playing video games with the cartoonists; the other half was spent less seriously, although I did win an award at a national high school journalism convention.) Since then I've been a general assignment intern reporter at the North County Times in San Diego, a copy editor/page designer and writer at the empire formerly known as ANG Newspapers (this was in the pre-Mercury News/CoCo Times days), a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times outdoors section and magazine, a freelancer for several magazines including Sierra, California, Seed and San Francisco and of course, the guardian and custodian of Peaches the Nexus News Shark (also: editor in chief) at that marvel of rub-off newsprint, the University of California, Santa Barbara Daily Nexus.

These are a few of my favorite published stories:

The Fog Is Rising -- Or Is It? (Terrain, Spring 2010)
Fog sustains Northern California's plants, animals, and people. What will happen as climate change turns up the heat?
Online
Mapping the Bay's hidden past (San Francisco Chronicle, March 2009)
Ecologist Robin Grossinger finds a history full of suprises.
Online
Not Rushing Anymore (California Magazine, Fall 2009)
On the sidelines with Russell White.
Online
For All the Fish, So Long? (Terrain Magazine, Summer 2009)
Are ocean conditions rolling backward 550 million years to the Cambrian Era, when invertebrates ruled the warm seas and bony fishes hadn't been invented yet?
Online
Darwin Mania! (Columbia Journalism Review, February 2009)
Journalists devote reams to his birthday. Does he deserve it?
Online
Darwin Slept Here Photo Essay (Seed Online, February 2009)
A photo essay commemorating Charles Darwin's 200th birthday.
Online
Mercury Rising (Terrain Magazine, March 2009)
Mercury causes huge health problems high in the food chain -- but where does it come from?
Online
Water Dance (California Magazine, September 2007)
Cal swimming coach Teri McKeever favors balance and body movement over traditional long distance training.
Plain Text | Online
Concrete & Strawberries and Designs of the Times (California Magazine, September 2008)
Two stories about green design in the Bay Area, featuring the design challenges of the California Academy of Sciences and a hundred-years-in-the-future vision for San Francisco.
Concrete & Strawberries Plain Text | Designs of the Times Plain Text
PDF (both stories) | Concrete & Strawberries Online
Dive Deep for this Ab Workout (Los Angeles Times Outdoors, June 2005)
In the turbulent waters off Salt Point State Park, abalone, which look like dinner plates glued to a rock, just might be dinner.
Plain Text | PDF
Bagging the Trophy (Los Angeles Times Magazine, May 2005)
With another world elk-calling championship in the cross hairs, Greg Hubbell Sr. watches his son's prey almost slip away.
Plain Text
Invasion of the Bay Snatchers (East Bay Express, June 2007)
Local scientists battle aquatic invaders that quash biodiversity and threaten state coffers.
Plain Text | Online
Ready to Roll (East Bay Express, June 2007)
Oakland's Junkyard Dogs gear up to bloody Steve Wozniak in an international tournament of Segway polo. That's right: Segway polo.
Plain Text | Online
Forever in a Day (Canoe & Kayak, January 2007)
Two paddlers shatter the previous 24-hour world mark.
Plain Text
Proven Human (Canoe & Kayak, January 2006)
The old guard of the Tsunami Rangers begin their bittersweet yet inevitable transition from tempting death to accepting fate.
Plain Text
Tearing Limbs from Limbs (Los Angeles Times Outdoors, March 2004)
With video cameras rolling, climbers and tree-sitters match wits and skills in the fog-slickened old-growth treetops of Humboldt County. But very few eco-activists escape the noose of Eric Schatz, a man they call the "tree butcher."
Plain Text | PDF
Climb and Punishment (Los Angeles Daily News/Oakland Tribune Great Escapes, January 2005)
Trek in mountains of Peru breathtaking in more than one way.
Plain Text | PDF
If You Hang With the Birds, You Can't Go Cheap (Oakland Tribune Special Section, December 2003)
Hold onto your stomach -- and your wallet.
Plain Text
NHL Veteran Keeps Love for Skating (Oakland Tribune Sports, November 2003)
87-year-old former Canadiens player finds time to get on the ice in Dublin.
Plain Text
Beauty and Danger (Oakland Tribune Great Escapes, August 2003)
Isolated area of Alaska defines what adventure is all about.
Plain Text

Fog sustains Northern California's plants, animals, and people. What will happen as climate change turns up the heat?

Ecologist Robin Grossinger finds a history full of suprises.

On the sidelines with Russell White.

Are ocean conditions rolling backward 550 million years to the Cambrian Era, when invertebrates ruled the warm seas and bony fishes hadn't been invented yet?

Journalists devote reams to his birthday. Does he deserve it?

A photo essay commemorating Charles Darwin's 200th birthday.

Mercury causes huge health problems high in the food chain -- but where does it come from?

Cal swimming coach Teri McKeever favors balance and body movement over traditional long distance training.

Two stories about green design in the Bay Area, featuring the design challenges of the California Academy of Sciences and a hundred-years-in-the-future vision for San Francisco.

In the turbulent waters off Salt Point State Park, abalone, which look like dinner plates glued to a rock, just might be dinner.

With another world elk-calling championship in the cross hairs, Greg Hubbell Sr. watches his son's prey almost slip away.

Local scientists battle aquatic invaders that quash biodiversity and threaten state coffers.

Oakland's Junkyard Dogs gear up to bloody Steve Wozniak in an international tournament of Segway polo. That's right: Segway polo.

Two paddlers shatter the previous 24-hour world mark.

The old guard of the Tsunami Rangers begin their bittersweet yet inevitable transition from tempting death to accepting fate.

With video cameras rolling, climbers and tree-sitters match wits and skills in the fog-slickened old-growth treetops of Humboldt County. But very few eco-activists escape the noose of Eric Schatz, a man they call the "tree butcher."

Trek in mountains of Peru breathtaking in more than one way.

Hold onto your stomach -- and your wallet.

87-year-old former Canadiens player finds time to get on the ice in Dublin.

Isolated area of Alaska defines what adventure is all about.