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New Mexico Eccentrics
New Mexico Eccentrics
by Brian D’Ambrosio
In a land too vast for conformity, eccentricity becomes a way of survival—and an art form of its own.
New Mexico Eccentrics is a portrait gallery of visionaries, craftsmen, musicians, mystics, and dreamers who followed their own orbits beneath the desert sun. Journalist and author Brian D’Ambrosio gathers years of encounters with artists, builders, and seekers who live—and create—on their own terms. Some are names from George McJunkin, the cowboy archeologist; Ernest Thompson Seton, the storyteller who helped found the Boy Scouts; Carl Magee, the crusading editor who exposed corruption and invented the parking meter. Others are contemporary makers whose hands and hearts still define the state’s creative pulse—Ed Sandoval, Cliff Fragua, Estella Loretto, Ken Wolverton, Doug Coffin, and dozens more whose work blurs the line between art and devotion.
Through D’Ambrosio’s eyes, these eccentrics are not curiosities but exemplars of purpose—individuals who turn solitude into invention and craft into witness. Their studios, roadside shrines, and improbable lives form a map of the state’s restless imagination.
To call someone eccentric is to admit that they move by a different light. In this book, that light becomes a symbol of integrity and imagination. New Mexico Eccentrics is both a love letter to a landscape and to the individuals who make meaning within it—a reminder that every act of creation, however small, pushes the horizon a little farther.
by Brian D’Ambrosio
In a land too vast for conformity, eccentricity becomes a way of survival—and an art form of its own.
New Mexico Eccentrics is a portrait gallery of visionaries, craftsmen, musicians, mystics, and dreamers who followed their own orbits beneath the desert sun. Journalist and author Brian D’Ambrosio gathers years of encounters with artists, builders, and seekers who live—and create—on their own terms. Some are names from George McJunkin, the cowboy archeologist; Ernest Thompson Seton, the storyteller who helped found the Boy Scouts; Carl Magee, the crusading editor who exposed corruption and invented the parking meter. Others are contemporary makers whose hands and hearts still define the state’s creative pulse—Ed Sandoval, Cliff Fragua, Estella Loretto, Ken Wolverton, Doug Coffin, and dozens more whose work blurs the line between art and devotion.
Through D’Ambrosio’s eyes, these eccentrics are not curiosities but exemplars of purpose—individuals who turn solitude into invention and craft into witness. Their studios, roadside shrines, and improbable lives form a map of the state’s restless imagination.
To call someone eccentric is to admit that they move by a different light. In this book, that light becomes a symbol of integrity and imagination. New Mexico Eccentrics is both a love letter to a landscape and to the individuals who make meaning within it—a reminder that every act of creation, however small, pushes the horizon a little farther.
157 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 28, 2025
About the author
Brian D'Ambrosio
34 books35 followersBrian D'Ambrosio lives and works in, as well as writes from, Missoula, Montana. In his most recent profiles, D'Ambrosio interviewed Iowa folk music legend Greg Brown, blues artist Mia Borders, boxing legend Earnie Shavers, boxer Doug DeWitt, Washington Capitals assistant coach Tim Hunter, and famed Montana leather artist Howard Knight.
D'Ambrosio's past stints have included work as an instructor, media consultant, newspaper editor, and marketing and communications coordinator.
His favorite journalistic topics or subjects: history, theatre, architecture, biography, boxing, NHL tough guys, photography, forgotten inventors, and obscure American poets and authors.
Brian D'Ambrosio has written more than 10 books and is in the process of completing a biography of boxer "Indian" Marvin Camel and a book called 'Warriors on the Ice," detailing the whereabouts of many former NHL tough guys. He contributes regularly to multiple publications on a vast variety of subjects.
D'Ambrosio's past stints have included work as an instructor, media consultant, newspaper editor, and marketing and communications coordinator.
His favorite journalistic topics or subjects: history, theatre, architecture, biography, boxing, NHL tough guys, photography, forgotten inventors, and obscure American poets and authors.
Brian D'Ambrosio has written more than 10 books and is in the process of completing a biography of boxer "Indian" Marvin Camel and a book called 'Warriors on the Ice," detailing the whereabouts of many former NHL tough guys. He contributes regularly to multiple publications on a vast variety of subjects.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 10, 2026
This New Mexico book portrays eccentricity as devotion, self-definition, and working "by their own gravity" rather than just being odd. Lots of memorable characters and profiles and people, including painter Ed Sandoval and some historical pieces. Many of the folks are alive and first-person interviews.
Displaying 1 of 1 review