Ask the Author: Roman Dial
Answered Questions (11)
Roman Dial
Hi Barbara, Somehow your question slipped my notice!
Yes, in my next book which will be about the Brooks Range and its changes, glaciers will be a subject, as they must, but rather a minor one, compared to the vegetation changes.
I hope your family in Palmer has taken you around our wonderful state. Having come up almost a century ago, they are about as Alaskan as a family can get.
Yes, in my next book which will be about the Brooks Range and its changes, glaciers will be a subject, as they must, but rather a minor one, compared to the vegetation changes.
I hope your family in Palmer has taken you around our wonderful state. Having come up almost a century ago, they are about as Alaskan as a family can get.
Roman Dial
That’s an excellent set of questions, Margo.
The short answer is that my intention was to tell the story of looking for my son.
Part III does that, and since Jazz came only briefly to Costa Rica, her appearance is also brief, except at the end where her critical role in keeping our family together is clear.
Part II was intended to be the story of Roman’s own journey leading up to his disappearance, to let the reader know that he was competent and why he might be headed into the jungle alone.
So that leaves us with Part I.
Here my hope was that I could describe the life path that led Roman to Central America. I attempted to keep the narrative of that path as straight and narrow as possible: my early infatuation with Alaska and climbing leads me to a mountain there that gives me confidence to meet my future wife Peggy. I quit climbing. We get married, have kids, raise them with travel and adventure—I could probably have done that in a chapter or two!
Those chapters in Part I were meant—not to show that I was a *great* climber/adventurer/father—but why a young man might find himself drawn to the jungles of Central America.
So, while it is a memoir, I tried to tell the story of Roman and me, keeping the focus there.
It’s probably fair to say that the idea of a memoir appeals to many “adventurers.” But memoirs also seem self-congratulatory and narcissistic; I’d rather have written stories about my amazing adventure partners over the decades than about me and my family. Dealing with the terrible events that unfolded, however, forced me to confront my role, and writing helped me deal with that.
If Cody Roman had not disappeared, my memoir—if I’d ever make time to write one—would have been very different.
I love my daughter very much. But she is alive and well and married, and I want to afford her some privacy.
So yes, this book is meant to tell the story of looking for my son, how he came to be missing, and what led up to that disappearance from my point of view.
Jazz agrees with the NYT reviewer Blair Braverman: a better title might have been the “Adventurer’s Father,” as the book is about my search for my son, the adventurer.
The short answer is that my intention was to tell the story of looking for my son.
Part III does that, and since Jazz came only briefly to Costa Rica, her appearance is also brief, except at the end where her critical role in keeping our family together is clear.
Part II was intended to be the story of Roman’s own journey leading up to his disappearance, to let the reader know that he was competent and why he might be headed into the jungle alone.
So that leaves us with Part I.
Here my hope was that I could describe the life path that led Roman to Central America. I attempted to keep the narrative of that path as straight and narrow as possible: my early infatuation with Alaska and climbing leads me to a mountain there that gives me confidence to meet my future wife Peggy. I quit climbing. We get married, have kids, raise them with travel and adventure—I could probably have done that in a chapter or two!
Those chapters in Part I were meant—not to show that I was a *great* climber/adventurer/father—but why a young man might find himself drawn to the jungles of Central America.
So, while it is a memoir, I tried to tell the story of Roman and me, keeping the focus there.
It’s probably fair to say that the idea of a memoir appeals to many “adventurers.” But memoirs also seem self-congratulatory and narcissistic; I’d rather have written stories about my amazing adventure partners over the decades than about me and my family. Dealing with the terrible events that unfolded, however, forced me to confront my role, and writing helped me deal with that.
If Cody Roman had not disappeared, my memoir—if I’d ever make time to write one—would have been very different.
I love my daughter very much. But she is alive and well and married, and I want to afford her some privacy.
So yes, this book is meant to tell the story of looking for my son, how he came to be missing, and what led up to that disappearance from my point of view.
Jazz agrees with the NYT reviewer Blair Braverman: a better title might have been the “Adventurer’s Father,” as the book is about my search for my son, the adventurer.
Roman Dial
Yes, Jamie, I now realize that my own death will mean far more to those that love me and live after I die than it will mean to me when I'm dead. With respect to life, it's clear to me that it's about sharing and being considerate with others, especially family.
I've always felt a certain degree of spirituality. There is far more to the world and the universe than we'll ever know. That feeling has been heightened.
Thanks you for the questions and the kind comments about this book.
I've always felt a certain degree of spirituality. There is far more to the world and the universe than we'll ever know. That feeling has been heightened.
Thanks you for the questions and the kind comments about this book.
Roman Dial
The best thing about being a writer—and I would not call myself a writer—is the ability to write on any subject and to make a living simply by sensing the world with eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and touch, then passing it through your brain to come out as words others want to read.
Roman Dial
Write about something I like and that excites me.
Roman Dial
Thank you for your gracious words. They are the words every author longs to read. And thank you, too, for your sympathy. I hope my book brings us all a little closer together in what we all share as humans.
Roman Dial
Hi Erin,
Thank you for your question and expression of sympathy. Writing the Adventurer's Son emotionally drained me, but it was so very important for me to write it.
My next book will be about climate change's effects in the Brooks Range as seen through the lens of my experiences in America's biggest wilderness. It will include science and adventure and relationships among people.
As certain aspects of science are quantitative ones, and the best tool for logically exploring quantities is mathematics, scientific results often rely on mathematics. For example, as the climate warms, mathematical models can tell us how fast vegetation might climb up mountainsides. However, I doubt that I'll include any equations in the narrative.
One story that I would like to tell in this upcoming Brooks Range book, however, is about an application of a mathematical model to predict how far two of us could travel across the wilderness carrying all of our food, without caches, help, or foraging.
Having taught calculus since my 20s, I've come to appreciate the importance of making math accessible and pertinent. I hope to do this in the Brooks Range book without any equations.
Thank you for your question and expression of sympathy. Writing the Adventurer's Son emotionally drained me, but it was so very important for me to write it.
My next book will be about climate change's effects in the Brooks Range as seen through the lens of my experiences in America's biggest wilderness. It will include science and adventure and relationships among people.
As certain aspects of science are quantitative ones, and the best tool for logically exploring quantities is mathematics, scientific results often rely on mathematics. For example, as the climate warms, mathematical models can tell us how fast vegetation might climb up mountainsides. However, I doubt that I'll include any equations in the narrative.
One story that I would like to tell in this upcoming Brooks Range book, however, is about an application of a mathematical model to predict how far two of us could travel across the wilderness carrying all of our food, without caches, help, or foraging.
Having taught calculus since my 20s, I've come to appreciate the importance of making math accessible and pertinent. I hope to do this in the Brooks Range book without any equations.
Roman Dial
Thank you, Patricia.
Roman Dial
A book about America’s biggest wilderness, the Brooks Range.
Roman Dial
By strong emotional responses to life.
Roman Dial
From the material in my notebooks that turned from recording names and numbers to quotes and statements to ideas and feelings.
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