The last several days have given me the chance to explore the heart and soul of Santa Fe—a community that is a beacon of what a creative city can be.
I can offer my own testimony for the power of creative cities. Two cities represented at this conference have had an immense impact on my own life. I attended college in Iowa City, with the idea of becoming a political science professor. But the town’s literary culture exerted such a strong influence on me that I left, convinced that there was no greater mission for me in the whole world than to be a writer. And that’s exactly what I have done. My favorite subject to write about is cities, a passion that was kindled during a visit to Montreal soon after completing college. Montreal, of course, is another of the cities taking part in this conference on Creative Tourism. From that point on, it was my life’s dream to explore as many cities as I could.
