Exploring the Writing of
Karen Telleen-Lawton
Exploring the Writing of
Karen Telleen-Lawton
Karen Telleen-Lawton writes to understand the environment around her. Her aspiration is to be persuasive, stimulating, entertaining, and sometimes provocative. Nature is her most influential teacher.
Published Most Recently
November 11, 2024
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist, Read the original column at Noozhawk.com I’m not a particularly loyal professional sports fan, but I was all in for the Dodgers. My husband Dave and I drove down to South Pasadena on the…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
Canyon Voices - Writings from Rattlesnake Canyon
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES BOOK: CANYON VOICES THE VOICE
COMMUNITY•ECONOMICS•ENVIRONMENT
Plastic Free July
JULY 13, 2020 BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS
By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist
The ubiquity of plastics made its greatest impression on me five years ago on a visit to Easter Island. Twenty-one hundred miles west of mainland Chile, it is one of the most remote inhabited places on earth.… Read the rest
READING TIME: 3 MIN
COMMUNITY•HEALTH & FITNESS•JUSTICE
The Library
JUNE 29, 2020, BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS
By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist Published: June 29, 2020 4:00 p.m.
The public library was my first love outside the family. My relationship mirrored what Susan Orlean describes in “The Library Book”: “I loved wandering around the bookshelves, scanning the spines until something happened to catch my eye.… Read the rest
READING TIME: 3 MIN
BIODIVERSITY•CLIMATE
EMERGENCY•ECONOMICS•ENVIRONMENT•JUSTICE•UNCATEGORIZED
Triple Emergencies II
JUNE 1, 2020 BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS
By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist June 1, 2020
In the last column, I wrote about the co-incident and related global emergencies of pandemics, climate change, and biodiversity loss. A friend asked me to help her understand the relationship. I struggled a bit to provide a clear explanation.… Read the rest
COMMUNITY•ECONOMICS
•JUSTICE•UNCATEGORIZED
Black Lives Matter
JUNE 29, 2020, BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS
By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist June 15, 2020
Last week, my email teemed with what I feared were mere platitudes about Black Lives Matter from
organizations with which I’m involved. Everyone is “sorry,” no one “has been doing enough.”… Read the rest
READING TIME: 4 MIN
RECENTLY PUBLISHED
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June 6, 2022
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) I learned to shoot rifles as a teen at summer camp in 1971. It didn’t become a passion, but I enjoyed it sufficiently…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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May 23, 2022
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) My home is deep within you, and I’ve got my own place in your soul, Now when I look out through your eyes,…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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May 9, 2022
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) There are no Antarcticans. Whalers, sealers, explorers, scientists and tourists have been exploring the unpeopled seventh continent at least since Russians in 1820,…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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April 25, 2022
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist(read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) Some people practice meditation to reach their inner child. I am better at being outdoors, reaching for my inner wild. Which is why I…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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April 11, 2022
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) Surrounded by ice and icy water stretching to every horizon, it’s easy to appreciate the beauty of the Southern Ocean. I was more surprised…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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March 28, 2022
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) Social Security news tends to come in good/bad news pairings. The Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) was the good news for 2022. Current recipients are collecting 5.9% more:…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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March 14, 2022
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist(read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) If boaters sail straight for our Channel Islands and miss them in thick fog, the next land they’d encounter would be Antarctica, more than 8,000 miles south.…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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January 31, 2022
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) Just about the time I become hopeless about the wreck we’ve made of our Earth, I read about a ground-breaking innovation or discovery.…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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January 17, 2022
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist(read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) New Year’s is typically a time for anticipating the upcoming year, but we’re struggling for something to celebrate. Employers despair at not being able…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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December 13, 2021
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) I was pregnant with my first child in 1981, the year Jo Robinson published “Unplug the Christmas Machine: How to Have the Christmas You’ve Always Wanted.” “Unplug”…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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November 29, 2021
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is a dozen years old: practically part of the landscape. Having been a political wrecking ball for most…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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November 15, 2021
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) Mature sex is a taboo fascination that emerges early. I remember chauffeuring one of my two kids and his friends on a school…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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October 18, 2021
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) We read daily that the land is in trouble, along with the humans, flora and fauna who depend on it. Human-caused climate change…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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October 4, 2021
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) Creek Week, followed by World Rivers Day on Sept. 26, had Santa Barbara flowing with articles and events celebrating our local creeks and…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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September 26, 2021
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) “Dilution is the solution to pollution.” I first encountered this quip in a water policy economics class at CU Boulder. I didn’t like…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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September 20, 2021
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) My book club has been reading and nattering together for over 30 years, since most of us had kids in the same neighborhood…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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August 23, 2021
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) “One more song about movin’ along the highway; can’t say much of anything that’s new.” — Carole King I still love singing Carole King’s mournful…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
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August 9, 2021
By Karen Telleen-Lawton
by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here) In the wake of Simone Biles’ withdrawal from the Individual All-Around portion of the Olympics competition, I was startled by her teammates’ insight that…Read the restReading Time: 3 MIN
Canyon Voices - Writings from Rattlesnake Canyon
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES BOOK: CANYON VOICES THE VOICE
COMMUNITY•ECONOMICS•ENVIRONMENT
Plastic Free July
JULY 13, 2020 BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS
By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist
The ubiquity of plastics made its greatest impression on me five years ago on a visit to Easter Island. Twenty-one hundred miles west of mainland Chile, it is one of the most remote inhabited places on earth.… Read the rest
READING TIME: 3 MIN
COMMUNITY•HEALTH & FITNESS•JUSTICE
The Library
JUNE 29, 2020, BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS
By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist Published: June 29, 2020 4:00 p.m.
The public library was my first love outside the family. My relationship mirrored what Susan Orlean describes in “The Library Book”: “I loved wandering around the bookshelves, scanning the spines until something happened to catch my eye.… Read the rest
READING TIME: 3 MIN
BIODIVERSITY•CLIMATE
EMERGENCY•ECONOMICS•ENVIRONMENT•JUSTICE•UNCATEGORIZED
Triple Emergencies II
JUNE 1, 2020 BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS
By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist June 1, 2020
In the last column, I wrote about the co-incident and related global emergencies of pandemics, climate change, and biodiversity loss. A friend asked me to help her understand the relationship. I struggled a bit to provide a clear explanation.… Read the rest
COMMUNITY•ECONOMICS
•JUSTICE•UNCATEGORIZED
Black Lives Matter
JUNE 29, 2020, BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS
By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist June 15, 2020
Last week, my email teemed with what I feared were mere platitudes about Black Lives Matter from
organizations with which I’m involved. Everyone is “sorry,” no one “has been doing enough.”… Read the rest
READING TIME: 4 MIN
Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist
ktl@canyonvoices.com
Karen Telleen-Lawton is an eco-writer sharing information and insights about economics and ecology, finances, and the environment. Having recently retired from financial planning and advising, she spends more time exploring the outdoors — and reading and writing about it. The opinions expressed are her own.
A variety of experiences over many (!) decades have influenced her views. Telleen-Lawton holds an undergraduate engineering degree from Stanford University as well as graduate degrees and certificates in environmental policy, economics, business administration and financial planning.
Until her retirement in 2022, Telleen-Lawton was the principal of Decisive Path Fee-only Financial Advisory. She writes regular articles on environmental, economic, and financial planning issues in local, regional, and national publications such as Santa Barbara’s Noozhawk, Stanford Magazine, and a national senior writing syndicate. Her book, Canyon Voices – the Nature of Rattlesnake Canyon, was published by Mission Creek Publishing in 2007. Inspirational writer for her work include John McPhee, Anne, Terry, etc . . . [I’ll look on by bookshelf]
Telleen-Lawton’s volunteer activities include various board and committee functions at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Channel Islands Nationalist Corps, and PSC Partners Seeking a Cure. She was a proud saxophonist with Prime Time Band for seven years before passing her horn to her granddaughter. Her most important influence and best friend for the past 47 years is her husband David.