Pathfinder School

Traverse City, Michigan

Hello, students of Pathfinder School! I was happy to be your guest for two snow-filled days.

I spoke to fifth grade about the amazing discoveries made in South America as glaciers in the Andes mountains melted: the Inca children sacrificed to the gods. I discussed these and more fascinating finds in my book Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and the Recovery of the Past.

I spoke to middle school students about my beginnings as a writer, the mummies of ancient Egypt, the creation of the plaster casts at Pompeii, and the discovery of Ötzi in the Niederjoch Glacier on the Italian-Austrian border in 1991.

You were a great audience, and your questions were very thoughtful.

I'd like to thank Rorie Lewis for her kindness throughout my stay in Traverse City and all of your creative and wonderful teachers who were so much fun to spend time with. Thanks, too, to Duncan Sprattmoran for taking these excellent photos.