Episode Details

Our guest today, Lee Carlson, is an author, journalist, and Zen practitioner whose acclaimed memoir, Passage to Nirvana, chronicles his recovery from a traumatic brain injury using writing, sailing, and Zen. Another of his memoirs is A Single Excellent Night: A Man, a Mentor, & a Moment in Time. As a former magazine editor and documentary producer, Lee Carlson’s work has appeared in Outside, the Los Angeles Times, and multiple Time Inc. publications. He is a longtime student of Peter Matthiessen. Carlson’s current book explores their relationship and Matthiessen’s legacy. And Lee Carlson has suffered something that I guess really could have happened to anyone. His life changed dramatically after a traumatic brain injury left him relearning how to walk, talk, and write. As he worked to rebuild his mind and his very sense of self, he turned to meditation, writing, and the guidance of his longtime teacher, National Book Award–winning author and Zen master, Peter Matthiessen.And Peter Matthiessen was someone fascinating in his own right! He was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher, and onetime CIA agent. Also, he was a co-founder of the literary magazine The Paris Review, but apparently that was just, a cover for his CIA work. My, my! He is the only writer in history to have won the National Book Award in BOTH fiction and nonfiction categories! Peter Matthiessen was a prominent environmental activist as well. He led an amazing life, and then he died in bed at the age of 86. And he was Lee Carlson’s longtime teacher. Lee’s website is https://leecarlson.life/

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