Trustafarians, Viagra & everything in between

John Fayhee covers all the bases with latest books

by Luke Mehall

John Fayhee says he can’t hike or drink like he used to, but he sure still can write. The editor of the Mountain Gazette will be at Maria’s Bookstore Monday evening, to celebrate the release of not one, but two books. For a writer to publish two books at the same time is a rarity, even in the days of e-books, but what makes Fayhee’s releases especially unique, is that one of the titles, The Colorado Mountain Companion, is scientific and fact based, while the other, Smoke Signals, was inspired by beer-infused campfire storytelling sessions that his friends begged him to put into the written word.

“The Colorado Mountain Companion took me the longest amount of time of anything I’ve ever worked on,” Fayhee says. “It is also something I am the most proud of.”

The book, described in its subtitle as a “potpourri of useful and miscellany from the highest parts of the highest state” is a compilation of statistics, terms and interesting facts about the mountains of Colorado. There’s plenty of Durango-related information, and only Boulder and Aspen are mentioned more often.

The focus of the book ranges from serious to comical. One chapter, titled “Avalanches in Colorado,” delivers the grim statistic that Colorado has had the most avalanche deaths of any state, with 240 recorded from 1950 to the winter of 2009-10. Alaska came in second with 130 deaths. Another chapter, “Colorado Mountain Lexicon,” analyzes the use of terms such as: agro, Aspenized, bro-brahs, couch surfing, dude, Gonzo, like, local, mondo, newbie, raccoon face, safety meeting, the odds are good but the goods are odd, trustafarian and white ribbon of death.

Another uniquely Colorado chapter, “Impotence Drugs Reach New Peaks,” covers the use of erectile dysfunction (ED) medications, and their benefits at altitude. Fahyee waxes philosophically in that chapter, “Any high-altitude dwelling person looking for an excuse to talk to the doctor about procuring a prescription for one of the many available ED medications now has a perfect pretense for bringing that subject up without having to get into any potentially embarrassing discussions about flaccidity.”

Other highlights of Colorado Mountain Companion include chapters about Native Americans, Colorado-inspired music, (including “Rocky Mountain High” and “America The Beautiful”), Colorado in the movies, and Colorado Olympians (including several Durango names).

Fayhee’s favorite part of writing Colorado Mountain Companion was researching the geologic and biological history of the state. “I’m a typical liberal arts kind of guy, and typically not a good researcher, that made this project even more rewarding.”

Plus, he adds, “My wife is even proud of this book, and she hasn’t always been proud of everything I’ve worked on.”

The second of Fayhee’s latest offerings is Smoke Signals, published by Durango’s own Raven’s Eye Press. Also the name of Fayhee’s popular column in the Mountain Gazette, Smoke Signals is a collection of essays originally published in the Gazette, but truer to their original drafts.

“Almost every story began as a bar or campfire story that I told to my buddies,” Fayhee explains. “And one buddy told me, you gotta start getting this stuff down on paper.”

In the introduction local writer B Frank describes the stories as, “pretty much … the way you’d hear these stories if Fayhee were across the fire from you, after a long day walking into a place many would like to say they’ve been, without having to haul the pack past real and imagined dangers.”

Fayhee describes the process of how he writes the column, “I’ll write out a story in its entirety, anywhere from 5,000 to 25,000 words, and then edit it down to the required 1,200 words for publication in the Gazette. My book, Smoke Signals reconciles the original versions. Every single one is longer than how it appeared in the Gazette, but shorter than how I initially wrote it.”

Fahyee describes the pieces in the book ranging from writing about his front porch in Silver City, N.M., to wandering in rural China. He also adds that many of the stories have a drunken and drug-addled tone. Not one, but five warnings are issued at the beginning of the book to the reader for its contents.
With such an illicit and eclectic story base, Fayhee opted not to go with a traditional publisher for Smoke Signals. He liked the Raven’s Eye Press’ model of retaining editorial control. “At this point in my writing career, I feel like I know my work the best, and a traditional publisher would have just messed it up.”

Ken Wright, owner of Raven’s Eye, couldn’t have been happier to add Smoke Signals to his list of titles. “I’ve been a fan of Fayhee’s since he resurrected the Mountain Gazette. I admire his keen, honest, hard-edged powers of observation as well as his gritty, edgy wit that comes from his underlying sense that, no matter how FUBAR things may be at times, isn’t this whole gorgeous, zany journey, really pretty damn cool?”

Fahyee is excited about Monday’s visit to Durango, and he says the town holds a special place in his heart, as he and his wife, Gay, bought their wedding rings here. He also describes Maria’s as “one of the coolest bookstores I’ve ever been to.” And though at 56 Fayhee admits he’s slowing down on the drinking, he adds, “I’m sure after the book signing, I’ll head down to The Ranch for some beers.” n

 Luke Mehall is the author of Climbing Out of Bed and the publisher of The Climbing Zine. More of his writing can be found at lukemehall.blogspot.com.