A Sense of Place
Perk Vickers was born in Lake City in 1914 andhas lived there all of his life, never desiring to be anywhere else. His father, John, arrived in Lake City in 1888 when Grover Cleveland was president and Colorado had only been a state for twelve years. Perk has always felt a real connection with, and a deep respect for, this special place, which he has described as being "about as close to heaven as a man can get." Perk Vickers is a man of ready wit and has a well-developed sense of irony. He is a student of history and a consummate Irish storyteller. He has been a rancher, miner, politician, business owner, heavy machinery operator, developer, and much more. He knows this part of Colorado as well as any man alive and lives a satisfied life: he wouldn't change a thing. Above all, Perk Vickers has a love of family, a love of the land, and a sense of place, attributes that we would do well to emulate. A Sense of Place is the story of a special man, a close-knit family, a way of life, the changes experienced throughout an entire century, and a special place in the beautiful San Juan Mountains of Colorado. This book will help you to realize what is really important in life as well as informing you about a very special place to live.
- Published
- 2003
- ISBN
- 1-890437-78-6
- Pages
- 252
- Place
- Lake City
- Publisher
- Western Reflections Pub. Co.
- Listed at
- $19.95
Publication details from Open Library. The price shown is the last one on record and is historic, not a current offer.
- Direct from us info@westernreflectionspublishing.com or (336) 565-6915. We pack and post from Lake City.
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About this book
A Sense of Place is the story of one man and one town. Perk Vickers was born in Lake City, Colorado, in 1914, and the catalogue description says he has lived there all his life without wanting to be anywhere else. Joe Wise tells that life, and bookseller listings give the full name as A Sense of Place: A Conversation with Perk Vickers.
The book starts before Perk does. His father, John, came to Lake City in 1888, when Grover Cleveland was president and Colorado had been a state for only twelve years. Perk has always felt a close connection to this place and a deep respect for it, and in the publisher's words he has called it about as close to heaven as a man can get.
Vickers is described as a student of history and a consummate Irish storyteller. He has been a rancher, a miner, a politician, a business owner, a heavy machinery operator and a developer, among other things. So the conversation covers far more than one trade. It is nonfiction, published by Western Reflections in 2003, and it follows a close-knit family and a way of life through about a hundred years in the San Juan Mountains.
What is inside
A Lake City birth in 1914
Perk Vickers's birth year and his lifelong home are where the book begins.
His father arrives in 1888
John came to town in the Cleveland years, a dozen years after Colorado became a state.
Many working lives
Ranching, mining, politics, business and development all feature in the accounts of his career.
A century of change
The book follows how family, work and town changed across roughly one hundred years.
A conversation, not a survey
Listings call it a conversation with Vickers, so expect his storytelling voice.
The San Juan Mountains
The high country around Lake City is the constant setting.
Who it is for
This book suits readers of Colorado local history who would rather follow one life than a timeline, and anyone who has walked Lake City's Main Street and wondered who lived there before the visitors came. Families with roots in Hinsdale County, San Juan Mountains travelers, and libraries building oral history and biography shelves will find a use for it. It is a substantial book rather than a pamphlet, so it rewards people who like to settle into a single voice for a while.
About the author
Joe Wise trained as a physician at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and practiced cardiology in Maine and New Mexico before and alongside his writing. Most of his books are novels, so this life story of a Lake City native is a change of pace for him. Western Reflections also published his Fremont expedition novel, a prison thriller and a travel book. You can find them all on his author page.
The place and the period
Lake City sits at 8,661 feet in the San Juan Mountains and is the only incorporated town in Hinsdale County. The Colorado Encyclopedia says it was founded in 1874 in a broad valley along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, incorporated in 1875, and named for nearby Lake San Cristobal. Before prospectors arrived in the 1870s, the Nuche, or Ute people, used the area as summer hunting grounds.
From 1875 to 1892 the town served as a supply point and shipping hub for the surrounding gold and silver mines, which is the Lake City that John Vickers walked into in 1888. After silver prices crashed in 1893, lead and zinc mining carried on until about 1920. Mining in the county all but ceased after a brief revival in the 1950s, and the town moved to an economy built on tourism and outdoor recreation. Its historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and enlarged in 2005.
Source: Colorado Encyclopedia: Lake City
Good to know
Who is Perk Vickers?
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