This is Episode 7 of the Hopeful Locals, but this installment can also stand alone. Today you’re going to meet John Doyle, and I’m going to let him tell most of the story, because I like the way he tells it. John has had an interesting life, and he tells his story in the same warm, frank, meandering way that he seems to approach most things.
He lives and works in the town of Crow Agency, and it’s small enough that the only directions he gave me to his office were to “drive through town and look for the pink house.” Inside, I found John, surrounded by machines and samples that related to his scientific research, and I found a story of hope, resilience, and reconciliation, beyond what I’d imagined – and beyond what I, myself, can muster, even on my best days.
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Big thanks to John Doyle for sharing his story. He’s getting ready to retire from Little Big Horn College where he’s served as Principal Investigator and Project Coordinator for the Crow Water Quality Project and several environmental health grant research initiatives. He also works closely with Montana State University and with the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, which he co-founded. John serves on the Board of the local non-profit, Plenty Doors, which he helped Charlene Johnson start. They’re a native CDFI, supporting new businesses on the reservation, and they run a number of great programs, including a workforce development program and an Elders and Youth program, where the youth learn from the elders and benefit from their cultural knowledge and wisdom. Be sure to check out and support their work!
Thanks to Paul Dreux Smith for making the music and mixing, and to my Associate Producer, Vix Jensen, for her help with this story and so many other things. Also thanks to my project editor, Christina Thyssen, and to Pernille Clifforth for illustrating this series. A special thanks to Heather Kitching and Jen Alevizos for their help this month.
If you'd like to see photos for John's story and all the stories we share, become a FREE newsletter subscriber on Patreon or Substack, or join my community on Facebook and Instagram. If you'd like to support my work, you can also become a paying subscriber and get invited to my member hangout in Copenhagen on June 25, our monthly community hangs on Zoom, our member-only Discord, our Episode Debriefs, AND you'll get lots of bonus episodes.
You can email us anytime at stories@leathau.com. We love hearing from you!
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