Author Turned Activist Fights Nuclear Industry that She Believes Devastated Her Family

Interview with Terry Tempest Williams,by Melinda Tuhus

Terry Tempest Williams is an author, naturalist and environmental activist. She grew up and still lives in Utah, where several of her female relatives contracted breast cancer, most of whom died. Though she can't prove it, Williams believes her family's battle with cancer is related to above-ground nuclear weapons testing that took place in Nevada during the 1950s. Her book, "Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place" chronicles her mother's illness and death. The experience of losing her mother and so many other women in her family transformed Williams from an obedient Mormon to an activist who challenges the federal government's nuclear policies.

Williams is a good friend of photographer Emmet Gowin, who has taken hundreds of aerial photos of how humans have changed the face of the earth. Many of these photos illustrate the impact of nuclear bomb production and testing. An exhibit of his photos is currently on display at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Conn. and will later travel around the country.

Williams wrote one of the essays for her book based on the exhibit, and was in New Haven last month, along with the photographer, to participate in a gallery conversation. Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Williams who addresses the impact of Emmet Gowin's photographs and the ongoing struggle to halt the devastation produced by the nuclear industry in the desert southwest.

For more information, visit Terry Tempest Williams' Web site at terrytempestwilliams.com.

Related link:

For information about the campaign to resist the danger posed to human health by the nuclear weapons industry and nuclear waste dumping, visit: www.downwinders.org

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