Travels With Cornbinder

Bob Woods has been a voice in local Democratic politics for quite a while. He ran, rather thanklessly, for the Assembly against Rick Keene a few years back, fighting the good fight, as he’s done for most of his life. He recounts much of that life—as a teacher, a man, a naturalist and a political activist—in his self-published book, Travels With Cornbinder. Woods was born in Northern California in 1927. Except for brief forays in military service or foreign travel, his entire life has been lived in the counties of the North State, and his stories provide insight into the recent cultural history of these parts. Woods has tromped all over the Sierras, and up and down the valley, and much of that tromping has been done as a wildlife biologist, committed to environmental issues long before words like “ecology” and “sustainability” gained common currency. As a naturalist, Woods has valuable experience worth sharing with more recent adherents to the cause of conservation. But mostly Woods has a charming story to tell about a man and his beloved truck, a device he uses to spin out the details of a life well and fully lived.