I was born in New York City in 1959 and grew up in California. From an early age, I found solace in the natural world. As a young man, I enjoyed long walks in what wildness I could find around my home in Southern California. These places no longer exist except in my (and perhaps a few other’s) memory. As I grew older, a camera and a vehicle were pressed into service on these excursions and I began to travel to the desert. Books about the desert (natural and cultural histories, memoirs, tales of exploration) bounced along on the seat beside me. Eventually, I moved to the desert to hear the sound of my footsteps in the dry air, to sit quietly in the shade of an ironwood, and to travel, as gently as possible, through fierce landscapes. I am grateful to live with my wife and two children in the Salt River Valley of Arizona. . . . My last name is pronounced “Larn” (rhymes with barn)