What could be better than to teach classes on American romanticism in a small liberal arts college that overlooks the banks of the Mississippi River? There’s always the chance for adventure, and like Huck, I like to think that if things don't work out here, I can always "light out for the Territory." That might explain why I teach another course on "Myth and Reality in the American West," and why I live in a log cabin surrounded by five acres of woods, weeds, and wildflowers. Even so, while I continue to carry on a romance with the riders of the purple sage, I’ve never found a book that I love more than Moby-Dick, and I have good-sized Smithsonian harpoon in my office to prove it. Along with teaching literature and writing, I also have a gig on WVIK/NPR (90.3 FM) where I write and narrate stories on the history of words, for words tell stories, but there are also stories in the words.