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In 2019 I was asked to create a song based on writings of Charles Bowden, for an event commemorating the 5th anniversary of his passing. When I read the book The Secret Forest, by Charles Bowden, it immediately inspired me to write this song. The book was published in 1993 by the University of Arizona Press. The Secret Forest describes the cultural destruction, and the destruction of the landscape itself, of the rare Dry Tropical Forest that grows in the southern area of Sonora, Mexico. The forest has been decimated for economic reasons, leading to native communities losing their grasp on traditional lifestyles that had been for generations tied to the life of the forest. The song is a lament for the loss of the forest that echoes the book.

Charles Bowden was a courageous journalist, defender of environment and justice. He often wrote about the American Southwest. Late in life he was known for his writings on the war on drugs surrounding the US-Mexico border and its effects on the lives of the people in that region. Jack Dykinga, the photographer for the book, has shared his photographs with me for this project. 

I have a long history of composing songs based on books, in fact, I have a full-length recording that features some of them...At Ken Sanders Rare Books, recorded live in concert at a book store. That CD, along with more of my work, is available through my website store.

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