More on Mahler

No, sorry, I'm not related to Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), the famous Austrian classical music composer. My "Mahler" ancestors came to the U.S. in 1881 from Germany's Hanover province. The suggestion is flattering, but I'm tone deaf. You can find plenty about Gustav and his music by searching under his name, or check out the International Gustav Mahler Society website at www.gustav-mahler.org. The ancestry of my mother, Mary Vencill Curnutte, is a polyglot of French, Scot, Irish, English, Norwegian, Italian, Dutch, and possibly Basque origins.

Looking for other Richard Mahlers? There are plenty of us! Find the deceased (early 2007) pornographic movie director (real name, Roger Watkins) at www.atomiccinema.com, the New York endocrinologist specializing in diabetes at www.appointmentnet.com, and the U.S. Navy veteran at www.bergall.org. I also don't sell real estate in Pennsylvania, distribute heavy earth-moving equipment in Canada, play professional sports, attend school in Florida, or teach school in Australia. But we Richard Mahlers are a diverse lot, aren't we? Let's hear from you! (Try my Facebook page.)

Here are some recommended links to other writing by this Richard Mahler (you may have to search on these sites a bit): www.newamericamedia.org, www.newdream.org, www.loe.org, eartheasy.com, and americas.oas.org.

My current projects? During 2007, I'm writing "The Jaguar's Shadow," a book about my quest to encounter a wild jaguar and to tell the story of this remarkable (and endangered) cat. It's scheduled for publication in 2008. Want to learn more? I'll send you articles on the subject that I've had published by Arizona Highways, Tucson Weekly, E/The Environment Magazine, Canyon Country Zephyr, iTalk News, Native Peoples, and the Pacific News Service. I'd really love to hear from anyone interested in jaguars, particularly those who've studied, tracked, or taken photos of them. For more information on the subject, I recommend www.savethejaguar.com.

I'm also promoting my critically-acclaimed book, "Stillness: Daily Gifts of Solitude," which describes the 97 days I spent living alone in the New Mexico wilderness and my subsequent research about the importance of (fast-disappearing) silence, solitude, and stillness. I'm a passionate advocate for the preservation of "quiet zones" in public places and embracing at least a few moments of deliberate silence each day. For more information, click www.redwheelweiser.com and search under my name.

I speak, read, write, and translate basic Spanish and have studied the language at accredited schools in Ecuador and Guatemala. I've tutored Spanish-speakers in English and welcome the chance to do more. I have been involved with the Latino community professionally and as a volunteer since the early 1970s, when I helped establish the first bilingual (Spanish-English) public radio, KBBF-FM Santa Rosa, CA.

Finally, I'm looking for opportunities to teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a mind-body intervention and set of practices that use yoga and meditation. I was trained for this work professionally at New York's Omega Institute in 2000 under the direction of Drs. Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli, through the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. I've facilitated MBSR and insight (Vipassana) meditation in New Mexico and California since 2001; and can provide details to those interested. From 2003 to 2007 I was active in a northern California network of MBSR facilitators and was editor of its newsletter (http://geocities.com/circleofmindfulness) and currently edit an international on-line newsletter about mindfulness at www.eMindful.com. For detailed background on MBSR, go to www.umassmed.edu/cfm.