Nissue #41: Alia Volz, Author.
It’s fitting that serendipity led me to my interview with Alia Volz, especially when you read her first answer below. I was browsing through one of my favorite local bookstores and just happened to see the cover of her memoir (pictured below) on a display of must-read non-fiction. As you might have surmised from Nissue #39, you just can’t get that sense of discovery from Amazon.
The book is called Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco, and that title says a lot! I was inishally intrigued by the premise since I do a little consulting work with some Bay Area cannabis companies, but once I started reading Alia’s story, I was immediately reminded of the importance of the plant, its history, and the good people who have stood by it, way before it was legal here in California.
Nish: What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Alia: I love serendipity and unexpected adventure. My most treasured moments happen when I’m traveling somewhere unusual, take a wrong turn along the way, and end up in a glorious spot or in welcoming company quite by accident. Colors seem a little brighter when things go wrong in the right way.
Nish: What was your worst job ever?
Alia: Data entry in a cubicle with no windows.
Nish: What was your first job ever?
Alia: At thirteen, I became an assistant breeder on a Thoroughbred stud farm – a supremely weird job that taught me more than any tween should know about horse sex.
Nish: What was your best job ever?
Alia: I’m currently a full-time author. It’s tough, but I’m living the dream.
Nish: What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Alia: Indecisiveness.
Nish: What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Alia: Greed.
Nish: What’s some advice you’d give to yourself at 23?
Alia: Blow this pop stand. You’ll learn more from exploring the world than sitting in a classroom.
Nish: What is your greatest extravagance?
Alia: Travel, travel, travel. I’ll go just about anywhere on a shoestring. Expanding one’s horizons is always worth the money, time, and risk.
Nish: You have exclusive dinner reservations for 4 excluding family and close friends, who are the 3 people (alive, dead or imaginary) you’d invite?
Alia: James Baldwin (for the brains), Dorothy Parker (for the spice), and Josephine Baker (for the daring and glam).
Nish: What is the theme song of your professional life?
Alia: The Long And Winding Road – ha. There’s no clear, logical trajectory toward establishing a career in the arts. It takes time, flexibility, and unfathomable perseverance.
Nish: What is your motto?
Alia: Eat your cereal with a fork and do your homework in the dark. (I’m not a motto person.)
Nish: What is something you’re really excited about right now?
Alia: I’m laboring over my next book right now, which is both thrilling and exhausting.
End Interview.
Another author I interviewed is Nayomi Munaweera (Nissue #36), a big proponent of plant medicine herself.
I served on the board of The Commonwealth Club, which has been so important for authors of fiction and non-fiction, so it was also an honor to interview Gloria Duffy, President & CEO, for Nissue #20.
Yeah I agree that you'll learn more from this world than sitting in a classroom