graphs, and stories that create change.
Author Terry Tempest Williams
is a woman with a gift to share. For
three decades I have admired the gift
of her artistry, activism, and advo-
cacy for sacred rage. She writes from
the heart; her style is passionate, wild,
deep, and informed. The gift of her
words combines her personal com-
mitment and passion with a practical
agenda for political change. By its
very nature her work activates us
to sense more, be more, tolerate less,
and do more. It activates us at a heart
level, from our core. Her writing
incites us to scorn disengagement, to
pity those who do not advocate for
our earth and for our freedom. The
content of her writing is inspirited
by her love of the values she holds
inviolable: the wild, her family his-
tory, democracy, and free speech. Her
writing is inspired by her deep love
for the landscape, artworks, and is-
sues that test her sacred values.
The year was 1995. At stake were
5.7 million acres of Utah wilderness.
The venue was Congressional Subcom-
mittee hearings in Cedar City, Utah.
The plea to protect this wilderness
acreage was made by author and citi-
zen activist Terry Tempest Williams.
Utah Congressman Jim Hansen
was not referring to the quality of the
microphone when he looked down
from the riser and said, “I’m sorry,
Ms. Williams. But there is something
about your voice I cannot hear.”
Although she felt diminished
by Congressman Hansen’s curt dis-
missal, Williams persisted. Just as you
would expect from a woman who has
many times proven the sway of the
written word.
When Senators Hatch and Han-
sen betrayed the 70 percent majority
of citizen opinion by proposing the
protection of only 1.8 million acres,
Williams decided that a chorus of
voices might fill the vacuum left by
her unheard words.
Good work is always a stay
against despair, as Terry has stated.
Grounded by events in her
personal family history and empow-
ered by her love for all things wild,
with the help of Stephen Trimble she
rallied twenty writers to join them in
a gesture of faith, a plea to Congress
to pass legislation that would protect
the sacred and savage landscape of
Southern Utah.
Three weeks following the urgent
plea, twenty writers, including Barry
Lopez, Mark Strand, Rick Bass, and
Ann Zwinger, contributed essays,
poems, and stories. These offerings
were made gratis. They were gifts
inspired by the writers’ love for the
Utah landscape. The writings were
then published as Testimony: Writers
of the West Speak on Behalf of Utah
Wilderness.
The story could have stopped
with the publication of a respected
chapbook, but the impassioned writ-
ings had a much grander destiny.
The Southern Utah Wilderness
Alliance helped place a copy of Testi-
mony in the hands of every member of
Congress. In September the chapbook
was acknowledged as the equivalent
of a literary bill. A copy was given to
Hillary Clinton who presented the
book to the president. A copy was
received by Al Gore and other key
members of the administration. The
chapbook was then read in its entirety
during the ensuing filibuster.
Because twenty esteemed writers
were willing to share their heartfelt
words, Testimony is now part of the
Congressional Record. Six months later,
when President Clinton designated
the Grand Staircase National Monu-
ment, he held up a copy of Testimony
and said, “This little book made a
difference.”
Yes, Testimony helped preserve
the red rock wilderness of Southern
Utah. But it was the gesture that mat-
tered. Williams refers to the concept
of making the “essential gesture,” as
doing whatever is required of us in
a particular moment, in a particular
circumstance, so regardless of who we
are or what we write or speak,
we are fully present and embodied in
the moment.
Although it’s likely we will never
know the impact of our activism, the
gift we have to spare is the essential
gesture. This is the offering we make
again and again, word after word, in
hopes our gift will be shared. This is
taking action from the source of our
love of, in service of our love for.
To paraphrase Williams: The most
effective activists are in love with the
world. There is nothing as powerful
as an active heart, the beating heart
of change.
Sunday Larson is a member of the ‘I
Am Woman’ generation. She believes
every woman has a story to tell and ev-
ery woman’s voice should be heard. Her
recent projects include The Sunday Soup
Kitchen, a community of Stirring Women
for Stirring Times, and an anthology,
The Women of Once Upon a Time-Their
Secret Recipes and Hidden Charms. She
lives with her husband and four rescue
cats in Sedona, AZ where she stirs the
cauldron of HerStory one woman’s story
at a time. www.SundayLarson.com
IMAGINE l spring 2017 5