David A. Laws – Medium

Published in BATW Travel Stories

·Aug 23

“A Most Extraordinary Mountain”

Why “Vancouver Pinnacles” turned out not to be in Pinnacles National Park — Story and photographs by David Laws On a horseback ride inland from Monterey, the Spanish colonial capital of Alta California, in 1793, English maritime explorer Captain George Vancouver came across “the sight of the most extraordinary mountain.” His report of an imposing cliff face eroded into tall columns helped to establish today’s Pinnacles National Park. But…

Pinnacles National Park

3 min read

Published in BATW Travel Stories

·Jun 21

Secret Monterey

A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure — Story by David A. Laws Did Sir Francis Drake claim Monterey for Queen Elizabeth? What is a flagpole skater? Why did the new nation of Argentina attack the port of Monterey? How do you find the Dark Watchers? You can find the answers to these and eighty other questions in Secret Monterey: A Guide to…

Monterey

9 min read

Apr 21

What makes a writer happier?

Clicks or satisfied readers? — Story by David A. Laws The goal for many writers who post stories on the internet is to generate the maximum number of views. Skills at search engine optimization, creating clickbait titles, and social media marketing to the most receptive interest groups can generate large view numbers. …

Travel

3 min read

Published in BATW Travel Stories

·Apr 4

Meet the Nuttall’s: An Avian Tragedy

“Nature is not nice but she is amazingly efficient!“ — “Rick” Story by David A. Laws Photographs by Jean and David Laws and Linda Abbey “David. Hurry, you really don't want to miss this." I jumped from my seat and rushed to the window. My wife pointed to a woodpecker on the trunk of a big-leaf maple tree about ten feet from the house. …

Nature

6 min read

Published in BATW Travel Stories

·Mar 9

Do you want to visit Yosemite this Summer but don’t have a Reservation?

Here are some options and recent clarifications — “It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter.” — John Muir Story and photos (except as noted) by David A. Laws Beginning in late May, Yosemite National Park in California is instituting a reservation system for admission during the summer of 2022. Designed to reduce congestion while major infrastructure…

Yosemite

6 min read

Published in BATW Travel Stories

·Feb 27

Georgia Hesse, Beloved Travel Writer & Editor, is Honored in Special March Issue of the BATW Online Magazine

Legendary travel writer, editor, raconteur, mentor, and inspiration to all travel writers, Georgia Hesse passed away on February 4 in San Francisco at 88. In 1963, Georgia founded the Travel Section of the Hearst flagship San Francisco Examiner newspaper and crafted it into one of the country’s premier travel writing…

Georgia Hesse

2 min read

Published in Core+

·Jan 4

Moore’s Law: “The Most Important Graph in Human History”

Happy 93rd Birthday Gordon — “No one has done more to influence life in the computing era.” — John C. Hollar former CEO of the Computer History Museum January 3, 2022 is the 93rd birthday of entrepreneur, philanthropist, and scientist Gordon E. Moore, promulgator of Moore’s Law of exponential growth in technology. In a post…

Gordon Moore

7 min read

Moore’s Law: “The Most Important Graph in Human History”

Published in BATW Travel Stories

·Dec 31, 2021

“Fuller of Monsters”: The Watery Wilderness at Silicon Valley’s Backdoor — Redux

“The ocean is a wilderness … wilder than the Bengal jungle and fuller of monsters.” — From Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau (1865) Story and photos by David A. Laws “They’re out there somewhere,” I said, pointing to the horizon. “Dad, keep your eyes on the road. We’ll look for the Farallones,” said my son Mark…

San Francisco

9 min read

“Fuller of Monsters”: The Watery Wilderness at Silicon Valley’s Backdoor — Redux

Published in BATW Travel Stories

·Dec 13, 2021

The Big Sur Poet in an English Pork-Pie Hat

When Pico Blanco wears sunset like a lion skin On his granite shoulders I have followed her down to the sea Where gulls and cormorants burn like phoenixes, The great ocean is possessed by light and sound. From “Little Sur River” by Eric Barker Story and photos by David A. Laws Half an hour’s drive south of…

Big Sur

10 min read

Published in BATW Travel Stories

·Nov 30, 2021

Henry Hayes Perkins FRGS: Adventure-Traveler Extraordinaire

A “working man’s” perspective on inequality, life, politics, and travel in the early 1900s — Story by David A. Laws Wanna buy a boat?” called the bewhiskered leader of a group of men hauling a battered rowboat up the Yukon River bank near Fort Gibbon, Alaska in 1908. Henry Hayes Perkins watched intently from a distance. The crude vessel, constructed from whipsawed lumber waterproofed with strips cut from kerosene cans…

Travel

10 min read