Some of my favorite articles
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
“Call Me Daniel,” Loquitur: The Vermont Law School Magazine, Fall 2014. A story about a torture survivor from Africa and the Vermont lawyer who gives him hope.
“The Future of Milk,” Eating Well, July/August 2010. As small dairy farms are vanishing, what is happening to our milk? An investigation into the politics of milk and the future of dairy farming. This article was the recipient of the 2011 Bert Greene Award for Culinary Writing That Makes a Difference, awarded by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
“War Games: The Army’s Teen Arsenal,” Mother Jones, Sept./Oct. 2009. How the Army uses video games to recruit its next generation of soldiers.
AFRICA REPORTING
“Why Killers Should Go Free: Lessons from South Africa,” The Washington Quarterly, Spring 1999. The case for trading justice for truth: my reflections on covering South Africa’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission
“Africa’s Oldest Survivors,” World Monitor (magazine of the Christian Science Monitor), April 1993. How did the Bushmen of Namibia win a rare second chance to survive? I spent several weeks living with the Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert with them to tell their remarkable story.
“The Long Walk Home,” World Monitor (Christian Science Monitor Magazine), September 1991. As South Africa ends apartheid, who will control the land?
“Whites Who Won’t Fight,” The Progressive, September 1985. The first article in the U.S. media about apartheid South Africa’s white antiwar movement.
“The 1980s: The Anti-Apartheid Convergence,“ my chapter about the rise of the U.S. anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s in No Easy Victories: African Liberation and American Activists Over a Half Century, 1950-2000 (Africa World Press, 2008).
ESSAYS
“Musician, Interrupted.” An 2003 essay I wrote for the UVM Lane Series annual program about my circuitous musical career.
“Rural Rescue,” Yankee Magazine, January 1996. My essay about working on the ambulance in my rural Vermont town.
TRAVEL
“Seeing & Saving Peru’s Rainforest,” Boston Globe, Aug. 12, 2007. A family adventure into Peru’s rainforest to see threatened species.
“Perfect Day in Vermont,” Yankee Magazine, October 1994. Popping the question on the summit of Vermont.
SKIING
“In Patagonia,” Powder Magazine, March 1990. My ambitious but ill-fated attempt to cross the icecap of Patagonia with skiers Casey Sheahan, Allan Bard, and Allan Pietrasanta, and our consolation prize: the quest for the ultimate brown trout.
“The Godfather of Steep,” Sports Afield, Winter 1999-2000. A profile of Brooks Dodge, a legendary pioneer of extreme skiing in the Northeast.
“On the Trail of Sherlock Holmes,” Ski Magazine, March/April 1999. I retrace the ski route and ski writing of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, who wrote about his misadventures in Switzerland in 1894.
“The Good Life,” Ski Magazine, November 1996. In which an American powderhound learns to slow down and appreciate La Dolce Vita while skiing in the Dolomites of Italy.
“Man of First Descents,” Ski, December 1995. A profile of skier and musician Bill Briggs, the first person to ski the Grand Teton, and a visionary who was marginalized for his unconventional views.
“A Telemark Pilgrimage,” Powder, January 1993. My journey to Norway with photographer Pat Morrow in search of Sondre Norheim, the farmer who invented telemark skiing.
“The First Turn,” Ski Fever, Book edited by Warren Miller. An essay on the hardest part of skiing the steeps, part of a coffee-table photo book edited by Warren Miller.
“Local Powder,” Ski Fever, Book edited by Warren Miller. An essay on the best skiing in the world: in your own backyard.
VERMONT LIVES
From Vermont Lives, a profiles series that I wrote for the Burlington Free Press.
“A 9/11 Survivor’s Long Journey from Ground Zero,” Burlington Free Press, Sept. 27, 2012. Saved only by acts of fate, Rich Conte of Stowe still carries the legacy of his firefighter brothers
“Farmer, Student, Even Genius,” Burlington Free Press, July 7, 2012. How a rural farming family, a struggling town, and a vanishing high school committed to educating their brightest star and send him to MIT.
“Vermont Ski Pioneer Clem Holden Blazes Trails for the Future,” Burlington Free Press, December 29, 2012. How Clem Holden spent a lifetime blazing backcountry ski trails and building community in Vermont. Holden died in August 2020 at age 97.
FIRSTS
Where it all began: A look (way) back at some of my first published articles…
“Shelter from the Storm,” Cambridge Express, January 1984. My first published article as a freelance writer. This story about homeless people was inspired by working in a homeless shelter in Cambridge, Mass., one of my first jobs out of college.
“Doomsday Scenario,” Boston Magazine, July 1984. My first investigative article was an exposé about a nerve gas lab in Cambridge, Mass, and explored what could happen if there was an accident. This article led to public hearings in the Cambridge City Council, after which the lab closed down.
“Rapid Transit,” Ultrasport, March 1986. My first outdoor feature article was about a canoe expedition I participated in–the first self-sufficient whitewater canoe descent of the Green River in Colorado and Utah.
“South Africa’s Secret War in Namibia,” The Nation, May 1985. One of my early articles about Southern Africa, an inside look at a conflict largely hidden from view, based on my travels in war-torn Namibia.
ABOUT ME
“Writer David Goodman to Receive Ski Journalism Award,” Waterbury Roundabout, July 29, 2023.
“David Goodman’s Classic is Still the Defining Source of Backcountry Insight,” New England Ski Journal, January 29, 2021
“Backcountry Skiing Guru David Goodman’s New Book Makes a Grand Entrance,” Seven Days, December 16, 2020.
“Pandemic Presents Perfect Timing Timing for Latest Update of a Backcountry Classic,” New England Ski Journal, December 7, 2020
“Making Turns,” Rutland Herald & Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, Nov. 19. 2020. The story behind the writing of the 30th anniversary edition of my guidebook, Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast, written by Sarah Galbraith.
“In the Backcountry with David Goodman,” Stowe Magazine, Winter 2013. A profile of me by Vermont journalist Kate Carter.
“Backcountry Trails Still a Hit with Goodman,” Boston Globe, Nov. 25, 2010. An article about the history of my backcountry ski books by Boston Globe writer Marty Basch.
