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"This little gem of a book offers sage advice..."
Too Young to Retire,
the perfect retirement gift for those who aren't calling it quits, is
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Mary Lou Cook: Community Leader Founds Santa Fe Living Treasures
She was the first woman bank director in Santa Fe, and is active in many community organizations, including Nuclear Watch, Habitat for Humanity, peace groups, and was official calligrapher for the city of Santa Fe. Trained in fine arts at Kansas University, she has taught around the country a variety of skills, including calligraphy, book binding, folk cross stitch, basket making, creativity & getting organized. As an ordained minister of the Church of Eternal Life, she performs weddings, 85 last year, and offers spiritual counseling based on A Course In Miracles. Mary Lou Cook is perhaps best known as the founder of the Living Treasures program, " a simple concept of honoring those in the community who make a difference. They serve as models and mentors, providing quiet inspiration with their hope, heart and wisdom. They are the folk heroes who live amongst us. This special distinction is a community's gift to a beloved Elder, as well as a gentle reminder that we need more thank you's." Since its inception in 1984, the program has spread near (Taos, NM) and far (Sydney, Australia). For this work, Mrs. Cook has received international, national and local awards as a community leader. Diagnosed with chronic leukemia in 1975. Mary Lou has lived with the illness for decades, embracing alternative health care, counseling others with serious illnesses, and following a spiritual path of inner peace. She is indeed an original. The following excerpts are from Living Treasures, a collection of photography and essays about Santa Fe’s elders. See below for ordering instruction for both the beautiful book, and a free booklet that describes how to establish a Living Treasures program in your community. Bill Isaacs: Advocate for Mother Nature
Inheriting two green thumbs, Bill was born in 1938 in Medford, Oregon, with a gardener grandmother on one side of the family and a Rogue River farmer grandfather on the other. By the time he was fifteen, he had discovered his passion for mycology and decided "this was something he really wanted to do." By 1963 he was hunting for mushrooms in the mountains outside Santa Fe, "getting close to the land and spending time hiking and looking." Weaving his way between academia and the "real" world, Bill taught first at the College of Santa Fe, then Santa Fe Community College. Later he worked in state government with the Natural Resources Department and as a nursery botanist. Since 1971 Bill has been developing courses that provide an understanding of environmental issues as well as knowledge of the natural world. He has pioneered courses such as Mushroom Identification, Bird Identification, Bioremediation, Plant Identification, the Natural History of New Mexico, and Xeriscape Gardening, courses he has taught at Santa Fe Community College. Bill received his bachelor of science and master's degrees from the University of Washington. He also did advanced graduate studies in botany at the University of Michigan. Known for his "wild field trips," Bill has trained dozens of area landscapers and gardeners. "It's said that the requirements for my field trips are a pair of binoculars and a fast car," he remarks. "The thing that motivates it all," he says, "is a consuming interest in how it works. The natural world fascinates me. Even though you don't understand all of it, you get wonderful insights that are like new universes. As you get older, your reach is greater. Suddenly, you're not doing disciplines, you're seeing how things work!" Cordelia Coronado: Weaver of Tradition
"I am very content here, doing what I am doing. I'm happy with what I am, and I love it. I have no ambitions to amass physical possessions or money. As long as I have a good roof over my head and food on my table, that's all I need," she says. Cordelia traces her weaving lineage to her paternal grandfather, Isidore Martinez, whose work influenced the Chimayo weaving houses. At ninety-six, her mother was still weaving and selling her famous rag rugs. Born in Medanales in 1933, Cordelia eventually left for California but returned in 1957 to take over as postmaster when her father retired. Working in the afternoons left her plenty of time for weaving during the mornings "when the winters were long." She taught weaving from her studio and at Ghost Ranch as well. "Weaving is very therapeutic," she says. "On a bad day, it melts troubles away." While each blanket she weaves is unique in color combination and design, Cordelia is quick to acknowledge her weaving ancestry. "My ancestors on both sides were Navajo. When the Spanish brought sheep and wool, they started weaving Indian patterns. There's no clear picture of: is it Spanish? Is it Indian? It's like the people, we're part Indian, we're part Spanish, we're part Anglo." As treasurer of the Rio de Chama Acequias Association, Cordelia works to preserve the water and farming rights of the families in her community. "Si no hay aglla, no hay z'ida," she says. "If there's no water, there's no life." Living in a community makes self-sufficiency possible. "Sure, we can go to work in Santa Fe. But why our area is special is that it's more comforting, more fulfilling to do it here with our neighbors." Bob Storey: Interviewing As Art
Born in 1947 in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and raised in Albuquerque, Bob grew up in a home where dinner guests often included New Mexico’s governor, judges, and politicians. "I thought everyone had these guys to dinner," he recalled. Bob attended school in Albuquerque and graduated from Highland High School. Bob hadn’t planned to be a journalist; he wanted to be a marine biologist. But after serving a stint as editor of the University of New Mexico daily, the Lobo, Bob was hooked. The man who had the greatest influence on him as a journalist, and as a writer, was Tony Hillerman. In 1969, Bob was voted the outstanding senior male journalism graduate at the University of New Mexico. After a two-year hitch in the army, he moved to Santa Fe in 1972 and began working for the New Mexican. He spent the next sixteen years working as an editorial writer, state government political reporter, business editor, and assistant weekend editor. He covered every political campaign from 1968 to 1988. Bob "asked the hard question, and held me and other politicians he covered to a high standard of integrity. Yet he always gave credit where it was due," New Mexican Congressman Bill Richardson says. In 1983, the congressman asked Bob to accompany him and a congressional delegation to El Salvador to oversee an Easter truce in the civil war. Bob was one of the first United States journalists to be allowed to visit a political prison at a time of rampant human rights abuse. Bob was instrumental in creating Santa Fe Community College, through his editorials in support of community education. He considered passage of the bond issue that financed the college as "the proudest moment" in his life. After he retired from journalism, Bob enrolled at Santa Fe Community College and earned a degree in computer science. Next Steps To get a program started in your
community, begin by ordering a free copy of The Living Treasures How-to Handbook
from: The Living Treasures, 192 pages
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Community
activist. Ordained minister. Calligrapher. Author. Tree planter. Networker. Mary Lou Cook,
aka MLC, is recognized as all of these in her hometown of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
If you have any
interest in the plant life and biodiversity of northern New Mexico, you will inevitably
come in contact with the Native Plant Society of New Mexico, the Nature Conservancy, the
Audubon Society, the horticulture program at Santa Fe Community College, and the Santa Fe
Botanical Garden. All these organizations have benefited from the energy and guidance of
Santa Fe botanist and teacher Bill Isaacs. 
Cordelia Coronado's life is rooted in tradition and the land. All her activities,
including her personal life, her community service, and her art, harmoniously function to
preserve the way of life she loves. Mother of eight, Medanales postmaster for thirty
years, teacher, gardener extraordinaire, choir leader, and water rights activist, Cordelia
is above all known for her fine Rio Grande Valley weaving.
Bob Storey had a
head start on other reporters. "My dad was a lobbyist for the New Mexico Farm and
Livestock Bureau for thirty-two years," he said. "In our family, books and
politics, debate and expression were always a part of the family."