Tom Mattson - The Other Worlds: Offbeat Adventures of a Curious Traveler

Copyright 2020 Tom Mattson

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, except for brief excerpts used in a review, without prior written permission from the copyright holder, which may be requested through the publisher.

Published in the United States of America by Dudley Court Press

PO Box 102 Sonoita, AZ 85637

www.DudleyCourtPress.com

FRONT COVER PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Mattson.

On the trail through Tiger Leaping Gorge in China, close to Tibet. 2006.

BACK COVER AUTHOR PHOTO: Thomas Leonard Studio, thomasleonardstudio.com.

COVER AND INTERIOR DESIGN: Dunn+Associates, www.Dunn-Design.com

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mattson, Tom, 1945- author.

The other worlds: offbeat adventures of a curious traveler / Tom Mattson.

Description: Sonoita, AZ ; Dudley Court Press, [2020]

Identifiers: ISBN: 978-1-940013-63-3 (paperback) | 978-1-940013-64-0 (ebook) 978-1-940013-65-7 (audio) | LCCN: 2019917558

Subjects: Mattson, Tom, 1945-Travel. | Travelers writings, American. AmericansForeign countriesAnecdotes. | Voyages and travelsAnecdotes. Adventure and adventurersAnecdotes. | American essays21st century. | LCGFT: Travel writing. BISAC: TRAVEL / General. | TRAVEL / Essays & Travelogues. | TRAVEL / Special Interest / Adventure. BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Adventurers & Explorers.

LCC: G465 | DDC: 910.4/1dc23

Look for other books in this series at your favorite bookseller or at www.DudleyCourtPress.com

I dedicate this book

to the people Ive met around the world,

some of whom make bold appearances in the stories I write.

They range from Maribel in Havanathe first story

to the Dani people in a New Guinea village

near the conclusion, as well as Minnesotans,

who pop up by surprise.

Dan MacMeekin, a late and dear friend to so many, encouraged me from the start, beginning with my first brief message in 2004. Over the years, he forwarded to me motivating comments from among the two dozen readers with whom he shared my writings. Through Dan, Ive met Bob Distad and Linda Messenger, and corresponded with Patricia Simoni near the East Coast, as well as poet-writer Andy Anderson on the West Coastall of whom I thank for their comments over the years. And I greatly appreciate Andys astute evaluation of the manuscript.

Im also indebted to others whose reactions and feelings about my periodic missives from the road meant I had to commit myself to being word-active and thought-creative whenever opportunities came my way. They include my brother James Mattson, sister Mary Elieisar, niece and grandniece Ailina and Rene Mattson, Joan Felciano, and Leah White, as well as Alice Lundblad and Hisako Matsuda, whose support never wavered, even past their 100th birthdays.

Keeping my writing engine running, too, were Tom and Jo Nemanick, Ron and Betty Anzelc, and Jerry and Jeannie Newton. Special thanks to 91-year-old Don Purkat, a World War II Navy veteran who served in the South Pacific and a lifelong resident of the village closest to my home, a tiny mining town that could perish under the weight of an expanding iron mine. Don instigated the publication of three stories in Hometown Focus, and Ive hand-delivered many more to his house since then.

Encouragement and advice have also come from younger readers. Asa, a budding entrepreneur, tells me he cant wait until the book is in his hands, so he can read my stories. I suggested he start with the tale of my being lost in a pitch-black barn with a pig in China. Hell have to get a little reading help from his mother, for he has just turned seven. And my cousins Alyson and Nick Maki, twins who just turned nine, helpfully suggested book titles. Theyve listened to some of my adventures and, as good readers, will soon have a new book to explore.

Further afield, Ive received valuable comments from Kimpei Ohara, Tom Woxland, Mel Martynn, Lee Mattson, Dave Fadness, Cindy Bertheau, Eva Hertzer, Janet Econome, Dave Collins, and Richard Ochs. And from world explorers Kathie Feig and Bob Young, and global sailors of years past, Judy Knape and Bryan Lane.

Like many other authors, Im indebted to my friend David Setnicker for his invaluable insights and advice on writing and publishing. Larry and Irene Chance conquered heavily marked up drafts and diligently deciphered my revisions at their computers, while providing very welcome insights and comments.

A huge thank you to Gail Woodard of Dudley Court Press, which published this book. Without Gails keen interest, advice and amazing grasp of publishing, my stories would be biding their time, unfinished. Gails online seminars have also been of great value to me, as has the expert work of Gails production assistant Teresa Evans. I am also indebted to copy editor Pam Nordberg. All are top-flight professionals.

I have been favored by the incredible and unsurpassed talent in cover and book design of Kathi Dunn of Dunn + Associates. Their work is on display in this bookon the front and back covers and on every page in between.

Superb editor Caroline Lambert proved to me what magic a great professional like her can perform on ones writings, even after theyve already seen years of labor. It is magic I believe in, but only because Ive seen it at work. Graphic Designer Lori Thompson of W.A. Fisher expertly took charge of the maps in this book. After poring over hundreds of maps during decades of travel, these are the first in which Im a playeralbeit a decidedly dreamy one in the Grain of Salt Map! Thank you, Don Peterson, owner of Thomas Leonard Studio, for your wonderful photographs, including the shot of me and my globe. My gratitude also goes to Barb Tucker and Ian Carlson of Andrews Cameras, who offered expert technical assistance.

The public library staff in the city of Virginia, and those in other Iron Range towns, may not have known what I had up my sleeve when I first started all these years ago, but without their assistance and the libraries modern technology, Id still be at square one with this book.

And I may still be at square one or square 1.5 in life if it werent for newspapers, and in particular, The Biwabik Times. While in my teens, publishers Roy and Katy Coombe taught me the science and art of reporting on local government meetings, selling advertising, running presses, melting linotype metal, taking and developing photographs, and setting headlines by hand. What an opportunity for a kid! The evidence is all around us that the world is a giving place.

None of it was meant to be: the stories and anecdotes that appear in this book, my travels to far-flung other worlds, being face-to-face with hundreds of strangers. Yet here we are, and there Ive been, and somehow, strangers became friends.

Im at this juncture in life, just as others are at theirs, because of many chance happenings, experiences and forks in the road.

Yet as I trace back the meandering road that brought me here today, I can see where it all started many years ago. As luck had it, I caught the travel bug when I was still a child. I first traveled with my family from Minnesota to Canada in a 1940s Chevrolet to visit cousins from the old country, Finland. We then traveled by Greyhound Bus to visit my mothers brothers, whod moved to California. In Hollywood, we chatted with Debbie Reynolds and Art Linkletter. And at Tennessee Ernie Fords radio show, we heard his first performance of the song Sixteen Tons (and what do you get?). That song will be a hit! my mother claimed right after the show. I scoffed. Capitol Records seemed to agree with me: it released Sixteen Tons on the B side of a record. DJs proceeded to play the B side only, and that song sold two million copies in two months. How do mothers know?