Santa Fe Living Treasures – Elder Stories

Not that John didn't try his hand at ranching--he did, at Cimarron before World War II and at Clines Corners afterward. During the war, as a combat intelligence officer in France, he discovered his future profession. "I had to find the character of the countryside," he said, "and I became interested in geography. That led to reading, which led to writing." While in France, he had the opportunity to study books in the fine old libraries, where, he said, he "learned a way of seeing the land."

John's books, Landscapes, The Necessity for Ruins, and Discovering the Vernacular Landscape, became classics in the field. Then, in 1995, the writers' organization PEN honored him for his essay collection, A Sense of Place, A Sense of Time, with its Spielvogel-Diamondstein Award for the Art of the Essay."