Life on Orcas Island with Edee Kulper

Medium Sally Mathis O’Brien's life path has been guided by her communications with “ascended masters” like Jesus, Gandhi, King Midas, and others. "Sally is a rare combination of religious docent and spiritual navigator. She received her master’s degree in Pastoral Studies from Seattle University in preparation for a second career in hospital chaplaincy, when a multiple sclerosis...

An octogenarian preparing to visit Bhutan, known for Gross National Happiness, Paramita gifted herself with a new name for her 80th birthday and is following her heart in visiting this Himalayan country with a development philosophy that aims to measure the well-being and happiness of the population rather than focusing only on economic growth. She plans to travel with a group of people connected with ...

A classical watercolorist who didn’t begin painting until the age of 44, Marcia later turned to working with acrylics, oils, and abstracts. Marcia is also a birder who has traveled all over the country to observe avian life, and a gardener whose property has been part of the Orcas Island Garden Tour. Marcia came to Orcas in the early ’70s as a back-to-the-lander, was one of the first women using the Lamaze method in nat...

Master herbalist, artisan jeweler, former activist, and all around deep human being, Carol Anderson of Magic Island Herbals shares everything from how intentionally she gathers specific plants for her handmade products and the sheer bulk of rose petals it takes to end up with a handful of rose beads many months later, to her thoughts on real beauty, the illusion of powerlessness, trusting one's inner voice, the aim to find love in ...

Epitomizing American roots music, Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms are "some of the most compelling musicians making country roots music in America today." They tour as a duo as well as with the Caleb Klauder Country and the renowned Foghorn Stringband, "the present-day gold standard for real-deal hard-hitting genuine old-time American string band music, with nine albums, thousands of shows, over 20 years...

A crisis consultant for 30 years, Christine is a communications advocate helping clients find their voice in navigating complex systems, communicating their priorities, and becoming more creative and effective advocates for themselves and/or their kids in systems like education, family court, special needs services, and long-term care planning. She has worked in executive management as well as start-ups, and her extensive backgroun...

Rolf Eriksen has a unique relationship with The Tower on Top of Mount Constitution, which is also the name of his book. He first visited the monument as a baby and then worked to repair it through the decades as the owner and general manager of Happy Acres Company for over 53 years. Rolf has bicycled up to the tower weekly for the past 25 years in order to assess wear and tear, document graffiti, and soak in its ethereal atmosphere...

Consulting with theme parks, museums, zoos, and aquariums, and managing creative development with architects, graphic designers, writers, composers, painters, sculptors, fabricators, and contractors takes Brian Leonard all over the world, from Washington, D.C.'s National Geographic Museum of Exploration to the largest aquarium in the world in Abu Dhabi. Brian also has a few fun inventions he dreamed up – the Stiffy (a rod hol...

Meet The German Magician: "I lost my mother when I was ten. The world stopped making sense. At seventeen, I was living alone, figuring it out. I picked up my first deck of cards - not for the art of magic, but to connect with people. Magic gave me something I didn’t expect: FAITH. For the next 18 years, I worked in Germany's automotive industry - Volkswagen, Porsche, stability and structure. But the magic inside me never left...

Advice from a local Inuit man to "make sure you talk with the ancestors" has shaped Karl's mindset and survival, and he is preparing for his third season paddling the Canadian Arctic's Northwest Passage. Karl is the founder of Krüger Creative, a nonprofit dedicated to wilderness exploration, personal growth, and environmental awareness. Through Krüger Expeditions, he offers day sails and multi-day sail-to-ski or sail-to-surf journe...

Bruce Benton went from Peace Corps work in West Africa to the US Treasury Department’s Deputy-Director of the Office of Raw Materials and Oceans Policy to a career managing the World Bank’s efforts to defeat parasitic riverblindness in Africa. He has written a book of the same. Locally, Bruce continues to work hard to help the Island Rides program. A few years ago, he secured grant funding totaling $800,000 for electric...

Modern-day explorer, Karl Krüger, is preparing for his third leg of a three-summer solo journey through the Canadian Arctic's Northwest Passage. He covered 900 miles combined in 2022 and 2023 on his stand-up paddleboard, and in the summer of 2027 he plans to use a Holopuni outrigger canoe instead to retrace the coast he explored on his SUP, starting in Tuktoyaktuk, continuing past Kugluktuk - his furthest east point from previous s...

Georgette Wong's expertise is in impact investing and strategic consulting to strengthen local communities. She currently serves as Board Chair of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, the Investment & Audit Committee for The Russell Family Foundation, as well as the Investment Committee of the Orcas Island Community Foundation. She has been the CEO of Correlation Consulting for the past 10 years, focused on clients seeking to integrate ...

A deep dive into Liberty's turbulent early years and what formed her sense of freedom, adventure, and the desire to be who she chooses to be and surround herself with people she trusts. Liberty talks here about biking across Finland, solo horseback riding in Mongolia among horse thieves and threatening bandits, feeling akin to orca whales, writing a series of books for children about a society of mermaids and facing adversity throu...