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March 21, 2007
Sue Pascoe , Staff Writer
Speaking Guarani, the native language of Paraguay, is only one of Nathaniel Brodie's talents; writing with warmth, insight and humor is another. As a result, he is this year's Palisadian-Post Travel Tales contest winner for his story 'Sports and Laughter in Paraguay,' about the village he stayed in during his recent Peace Corps assignment.
Brodie wins a one-night stay for two in the junior executive suite at the Luxe Hotel Sunset Boulevard in Brentwood, which includes parking, breakfast for two and occupancy tax.
After growing up in Pacific Palisades and graduating from Palisades High in 1997, Brodie spent a year traveling in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. 'It opened my eyes to cultural and social differences,' he said.
When he returned home, he chose Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington, because it wasn't a mainstream type of school; it emphasized an interdisciplinary approach in which a theme or a topic is studied through different but related subjects. 'They also offer environmentally focused classes,' said Brodie, 'as well as having a seven-acre organic farm on campus.'
In 2002, after graduating with a major in agriculture and a minor in anthropology, he traveled to Asia with his backpack, visiting Laos, Cambodia, India and Thailand, where his brother, Jedediah, was working on his doctorate in primate studies.
Next he got a job working with the National Park Service at the Grand Canyon. 'I was in a place where people come for an hour, say 'Ooooh!' and then leave,' Brodie said. 'And I got to stay there.' After a year in Arizona, he entered the Peace Corps because 'traveling started to seem superficial.' On another level, he wanted to make a difference. 'I was hoping to install changes and help people.'
In Paraguay, instead of major changes, he learned that he had to shift his expectations to making small changes. 'Just the slightest shift in thought is just as important,' he said. 'You can't instill new agricultural methods in two years; you have to take baby steps.'
Upon his return to the U.S., he noticed little things like the pavement and the cars, but what struck him most was people's reaction to his Peace Corps service. A few were interested, but many felt it was unimportant.
Next month, Brodie will head back to the Grand Canyon. 'I'll be outside all day, building back-country trails,' he said. Then in the fall he'll join his girlfriend at Humboldt College in Eureka, where she is studying canopy biology.
Brodie, 27, is at a crossroads in his life and is trying to decide between pursuing journalism or going the academic route in anthropology. While in Eureka, he hopes to land a job writing for the North Coast Journal; if not, he may work at Redwoods National Park.
He has had articles published in Birders World magazine about birds in Paraguay and in The Humanist about economic and social development in that country.
'Writing comes naturally and easy,' Brodie said, a talent he attributes to an important attribute: 'I was and still am a voracious reader.'
If there are genetic influences on writing talent, Brodie may have inherited a few. His grandmother, Fawn M. Brodie, wrote biographies of Thomas Jefferson and Joseph Smith, and his father, Bruce, a clinical psychologist, has written a new book 'Adolescence and Delinquency.' His mother, Janet, wrote a book based on her doctoral dissertation about birth control in the 18th century and also had the distinction of winning the Post's Travel Tales contest in 2004.
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