{"id":43445,"date":"2021-11-24T21:41:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T04:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-author-inspired-by-nature-in-latest-book\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:13:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:13:48","slug":"cortez-author-inspired-by-nature-in-latest-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-author-inspired-by-nature-in-latest-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortez author inspired by nature in latest book"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Curt
Curt Melliger holds his new book, \u201cWhere the Weeds Grow,\u201d while wearing what he refers to as his \u201cauthor cap.\u201c<\/span>Kala Parkinson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

At 65, Curt Melliger is, for the first time since childhood, fully settled.<\/p>\n

A new first-time homeowner, living in the middle of town in Cortez is a far cry from the lifestyle he\u2019s been living since 17.<\/p>\n

Back then, Melliger fully planned on attending college on a baseball scholarship. Hailing from a small town in Nebraska, he thought he would return to his native state after a road trip before classes started.<\/p>\n

In what he describes as his \u201cold Volkwagen hippie van,\u201d he drove West.<\/p>\n

North of Durango, it blew up, and his life was forever changed, he said.<\/p>\n

And to his parent\u2019s dismay, he wasn\u2019t going home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey thought maybe I got involved in some weird cult or something, so they sent the sheriff to check on me, and I told him \u2018No, I\u2019m fine, I just don\u2019t want to go back to any more school or college or Nebraska. I\u2019m a mountain man,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In a sit-down with The Journal, <\/em> flute music playing in the background and cat perched at his side, Melliger recounted the experiences of his life \u2014 which he doesn\u2019t believe is his first. Melliger discussed his initial draw to the mountains of the Southwest, and a pull that kept him coming back.<\/p>\n

Here and everywhere he\u2019s been, he\u2019s spent a great deal of time pondering the spiritual world. He\u2019s fascinated by topics like synchronicity, dreams, impossible coincidences, near-death experiences, the inner workings of nature and his belief that we all have invisible angels guiding us along the way.<\/p>\n

He wants you to read about them in his newest book, published in May: \u201cWhere the Weeds Grow.\u201d It\u2019s available for purchase online at ozarkmt.com, amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.<\/p>\n

His new book explores how the different environments he\u2019s experienced \u2013 from skid row in California to this corner of Colorado \u2013 harbor keys to enlightenment he believes exist beyond the surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the human race used to be much closer to nature, and we\u2019ve kind of been divorced from it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The summer after Melliger graduated high school, he hitchhiked to Alaska, and spent his life as something of a nomad, never laying permanent roots anywhere.<\/p>\n

He worked odd and often dangerous jobs until he was able to support himself with writing later in life \u2013 a gift he didn\u2019t realize he had until friends encouraged him to seek publication.<\/p>\n

The book follows his first: \u201cHeaven Here on Earth.\u201d Melliger says his best writing takes place around 4 a.m., and he doesn\u2019t type his words on a computer, preferring to hand-write them \u2014 a testament to his quest for simplicity.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s saddened by the reduction in childlike wander he sees in some people, he said, and hopes his book reminds people of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never got in line. And I feel sorry for people that do, because we\u2019re wild creatures on a wild planet, and we can do anything we want,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is no limit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Out of the places he\u2019s lived, he\u2019s most at home in the San Juan Mountains \u2013 and they have inspired much of his writing.<\/p>\n

While everyone might not share his approach to life, he relates to others drawn to the region who find peace in the diverse landscapes \u2014 the expanses of deserts and mountain peaks \u2014 that inspire deep reflection within many.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love writing about the strange things that happen to us and the doors that open and wisdom we get from strangers and insights from just being there at sunrise,\u201d he said. \u201cI spend a lot of time out in nature because that\u2019s where I feel most at home. I\u2019m never alone in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melliger\u2019s favorite place in the world is the San Juan Mountains \u2014 as evidenced in his book \u2018Where the Weeds Grow\u2019 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[639,28,167,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-book","tag-headlines","tag-local-news-lead","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85706,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43445\/revisions\/85706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43445"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}