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Here’s the Story of Buddy, as told in my 6th book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer: Four years after that, Lucy was still going strong, albeit with the help of a daily pain pill and glucosamine tablet. That’s when a third dog, Buddy, adopted us. I had known Buddy […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4549: In my book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, I write about a hippo biting through Deb’s and my canoe, throwing us onshore, and us laughing about it afterward. For the critic who doubted we actually laughed—here’s proof.
Marty’s photo of the day #4541: Even in Zimbabwe, with all the huge elephants and hippopotamuses, it’s still fun to get down and look at the little things. Well . . . Not too little!
Day #6 of Seven Marty Essen Books in Seven Days, featured in order of publication. We continue with my return to nonfiction writing: Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer. Like so many other authors and musicians, this is my “What I did while in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic project.” […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4595: My dad, Paul W. Essen, died twelve years ago this week. As anyone who has read my book Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer knows, my father was a born again Christian to the extreme. In fact, he even believed his god wanted him […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4421: Last night, Deb and I discussed whether we would take a ride in the Titan submersible to see the Titanic shipwreck if given the chance. We both agreed we’d do it, but not for the $250,000 per-person fee. Perhaps if OceanGate removed one of the zeros from the price […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4363: I shot this photo at the beginning of one of Deb’s and my biggest adventures. We were with the Iban tribe (a tribe once famous for headhunting), on the island of Borneo. On the far side of this lake is the AI River (AI means “water” in the Iban […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4330: This is the Zambezi River. Zimbabwe is on the near side and Zambia is on the far side. In between—lots of hippos!
Marty’s photo of the day #4296: This is the Spanish town of Torrejón el Rubio. Some photos speak for themselves; others need a storyteller. So I’m going to be the storyteller for this one. The following comes from my sixth book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer: By the time […]
Marty’s photos of the day #4279-4781: Today, I’m featuring three pictures from my weekend in Chattanooga, Tennessee: 1. This morning I performed Around the World in 50 Minutes for the Parent’s Weekend Brunch at Southern Adventist University. Meal shows are usually death. For those of you who have watched the Amazon Prime series, The Marvelous […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4158: This was Deb’s and my first campsite, along the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. At night, the hippos came on shore and roared—just a stone’s throw away from our tents. And joining them were lions roaring, elephants trumpeting, and hyenas whooping!
Marty’s photo of the day #4075: I write both fiction and nonfiction. If you’ve read any of my nonfiction books, you know I’ve experienced some great adventures, from searching for venomous snakes in the Amazon Rainforest to hiking on all seven continents to surviving a hippo attack with my wife, Deb, in Zimbabwe to overcoming […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4068: Can an entire canoe fit sideways into a hippo’s mouth? I took this photo in Zimbabwe shortly after my wife, Deb, and I proved—yes, it most definitely can! For those who don’t already know the story, here’s an excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the […]
Signed books make great holiday gifts! Beginning today, I am offering a signed book special. Here are the prices: Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents: $19.95 Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, the Everglades, and Puerto Rico: $19.95 Time Is Irreverent: $14.95 Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not […]
I published Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents in 2007, Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, the Everglades, and Puerto Rico in 2016, Time Is Irreverent in 2018, Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again! in 2019, Time Is Irreverent 3: Gone for 16 Seconds in 2020, and […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3616: If you’ve read either Time Is Irreverent or Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, you know a little about Fitger’s. The historic Duluth landmark used to be the Fitger Brewing Company, but now it is a boutique hotel, a bookstore, and a collection of […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3603: In the marriage advice chapter of my latest book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, I talk about how Deb and I have kept our 36-year marriage fresh by doing spontaneous things. Examples include suddenly deciding to travel to all seven-continents, moving to Montana […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3551: For anyone who has read my latest book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, this is Nanga Sumpa, the Iban longhouse that Deb and I raced the flooding deep-canyon river to get to. In Borneo, entire tribes live in a single longhouse, and when […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3539: For those who have read my just released sixth book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, this photo says a lot. I took it the day after Deb’s and my backpacking trip on the mountainous island of Borneo with the Iban tribe. When torrential […]
