Duffield, Wendell A. 1941-

views updated

DUFFIELD, Wendell A. 1941-

PERSONAL:

Born May 10, 1941, in Sisseton, SD. Education: Carleton College, B.A., 1963; Stanford University, M.S., 1965, Ph.D., 1967.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Geology Department, Northern Arizona University, P.O. Box 4099, Flagstaff, AZ 86011. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Mountain Press Publishing Co., P.O. Box 2399, Missoula, MT 59806. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

U.S. Geological Survey, research geologist in the United States and abroad, 1965-97; Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, adjunct professor, 1997—; writer, 1997—.

WRITINGS:

Volcanoes of Northern Arizona: Sleeping Giants of the Grand Canyon Region, photographs by Michael Collier, Grand Canyon Association (Grand Canyon, AZ), 1997.

Chasing Lava: A Geologist's Adventures at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Mountain Press Publishing (Missoula, MT), 2003.

(With John Sass) Geothermal Energy: Clean Power from the Earth's Heat, U.S. Geological Survey (Reston, VA), 2003.

When Pele Stirs: A Volcanic Tale of Hawaii, Hemp, and High-Jinks (novel), iUniverse, Inc. (Lincoln, NE), 2003.

Contributor of dozens of articles to magazines and newspapers, including MotorHome and Plane and Pilot.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Growing up Near Kale Wobegon: From Piglets to Prep School, a memoir of growing up in small-town Minnesota as "a completely naive hayseed farm kid who suddenly finds himself as a student at the elite eastern preparatory school Phillips Exeter Academy"; Anthology of Poems, Song Lyrics, Essays, and Short Stories Written by Nina Hatchitt Duffield, edited and annotated with Anne W. Duffield.

SIDELIGHTS:

Wendell A. Duffield told CA: "I retired from the United States Geological Survey in 1997, following a thirty-two-year career studying volcanoes, volcanic hazards, and geothermal energy. During that career, I had more than 130 research papers published in refereed technical journals: publications read only by other professional geologists. In retirement, I've become interested in trying to tell a broad, general readership about volcanoes through books, magazine articles, lectures, and pieces in newspapers.

"In retirement, I have also become interested in exploring my growing-up years through stories written for magazines and other publication venues.

"I write simply because I enjoy writing. If I had to make a living at this retirement pursuit, I would have starved long ago."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Duffield, Wendell A., Chasing Lava: A Geologist's Adventures at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Mountain Press Publishing (Missoula, MT), 2003.

PERIODICALS

Kliatt, May, 2003, Katherine E. Gillen, review of Chasing Lava: A Geologist's Adventures at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, p. 41.

ONLINE

Northern Arizona University Web site,http://www.nau.edu/ (December 2, 2004), "Wendel A. Duffield."