Gretchen M. Alexander
"No Regrets: Pathways with the National Park Service"
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| (Photos by Patrick Fraser) |
My older brother James R. Zinck’s long and varied National Park Ranger career began during college as a Summer Ranger at Crater Lake National Park and ended 41 years later when he retired as the National Park’s Liaison to the Green Springs National Historic District in Virginia. His assignments included historic treasures (some remote), a cave, a pueblo dwelling, busy recreation areas, national training centers, significant Civil War battlefields, and the Department of the Interior. Jim and his wife, Bonnie, moved their family every few years as assignments changed. Being a National Park Ranger is complex and sensitive work subject to national and local politics; it requires the learning of entire environments, geologies, historic contexts, staff, and resources while often adapting to difficult living conditions and frequent change. This piece is a tribute to a good man who did good work. When asked for a title to this piece Jim said, “No Regrets for My Career or My Life!”
Materials: Cloth, metal rings, commemorative pins from National Parks, digitally printed fabric, map printed on canvas.
Special thanks are due to Sarah Loach for Computer Design Assistance and Neil Ferrari for Hanging Apparatus.