Carson Vaughan
Verified
As seen in:
MSN,
The New York Times,
The New York Times International,
Business Insider,
Business Insider Singapore,
Reuters,
The Guardian,
The Telegraph,
The Washington Post,
USA Today
and
Covers:
music, general science, domestic violence, nebraska, native american, literature, music events, death penalty, animals, wind energy, energy, nonfiction writing, north carolina, entrepreneurship, weather, film & television, #tech, fiction writing, comedy
Articles by Carson Vaughan
Tennessee's Most Historic Hotel Is Also Home to the Greatest Duck Tradition
After more than 80 years, the Peabody Mallards are still marching on, with a young, earnest Duckmaster at their lead. Twice a day, five Mallards march through the Peabody Hotel's lobby, with lead Duckmaster Anthony Petrina close on their tails. This article is a product of Audubon magazine. Become a member to receive our quarterly print issue in the mail.
The Scholars of Dellwood Drive
TECH HISTORY FROM ONE BRIGHT STUDENT TO ANOTHER, A SHARED ADDRESS DISCOVERED BY CHANCE SHOWS A GEORGIA TECH LEGACY COME FULL CIRCLE. STORY BY CARSON VAUGHAN PHOTOGRAPHS BY SCOTT DINERMAN, STC 03 Every few years, humoring a little nostalgia, Randy McDow, executive director of the national Stamps Scholars Program, drives past his grandparents’ old home in Buckhead, just off Peachtree Battle, where the pine trees sway overhead and four small dormer windows study the front lawn like a textbook.
Floating the Lazy Rivers of Nebraska’s Spring-Fed Water World
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development Store and/or access information on a device You can choose how your personal data is used.
In the remote Nebraska Sandhills lies an unexpected water world
So the Rockies rose up, and the rivers bled out, and for roughly 15 million years, the last sandy dregs washed across the ancient savannas of north-central Nebraska, still busy with bear dogs and three-toed horses. Then the Ice Age dawned. The grass died back, the sand shook loose and the glacial winds swept it all together, sculpting the largest dunescape the Western Hemisphere has ever known, nearly 20,000 square miles.
Kayaking, Canoeing and Tubing in the Nebraska Sandhills
Travel|Floating the Lazy Rivers of Nebraska’s Spring-Fed Water World https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/travel/nebraska-sandhills-rivers.html You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. So the Rockies rose up, and the rivers bled out, and for roughly 15 million years, the last sandy dregs washed across the ancient savannas of north-central Nebraska, still busy with bear dogs and three-toed horses.
A little-known, cash-strapped university outpost in Nebraska spawns renowned work - and serious awe
The year was 1974. It was early fall. Or was it late spring? Never mind all that, Gary Hergenrader says. It isn’t the season he remembers today, but the site: the old campground across the water, a dozen red cabins clinging like ticks to the canyon walls, the lodge overlooking Keystone Lake, the geology exposed in the rocky shelves above. Before retiring in 2005, Hergenrader served nearly 25 years as the Nebraska state forester.
260 miles west of Lincoln, a little-known, cash-strapped university outpost spawns renowned work - and serious awe
The year was 1974. It was early fall. Or was it late spring? Never mind all that, Gary Hergenrader says. It isn’t the season he remembers today, but the site: the old campground across the water, a dozen red cabins clinging like ticks to the canyon walls, the lodge overlooking Keystone Lake, the geology exposed in the rocky shelves above. Before retiring in 2005, Hergenrader served nearly 25 years as the Nebraska state forester.
260 miles west of Lincoln, a little-known, cash-strapped university outpost spawns renowned work - and serious awe
The year was 1974. It was early fall. Or was it late spring? Never mind all that, Gary Hergenrader says. It isn’t the season he remembers today, but the site: the old campground across the water, a dozen red cabins clinging like ticks to the canyon walls, the lodge overlooking Keystone Lake, the geology exposed in the rocky shelves above. Before retiring in 2005, Hergenrader served nearly 25 years as the Nebraska state forester.
Situated west of Lincoln, a little-known, cash-strapped university outpost spawns renowned work, serious awe
The year was 1974. It was early fall. Or was it late spring? Never mind all that, Gary Hergenrader says. It isn't the season he remembers today, but the site: the old campground across the water, a dozen red cabins clinging like ticks to the canyon walls, the lodge overlooking Keystone Lake, the geology exposed in the rocky shelves above. Before retiring in 2005, Hergenrader served nearly 25 years as the Nebraska state forester.
260 miles west of Lincoln, a little-known, cash-strapped university outpost spawns renowned work - and serious awe
The year was 1974. It was early fall. Or was it late spring? Never mind all that, Gary Hergenrader says. It isn’t the season he remembers today, but the site: the old campground across the water, a dozen red cabins clinging like ticks to the canyon walls, the lodge overlooking Keystone Lake, the geology exposed in the rocky shelves above. Before retiring in 2005, Hergenrader served nearly 25 years as the Nebraska state forester.
Cedar Point Station at 50: Little-known, cash-strapped university outpost spawns renowned work - and serious awe
The year was 1974. It was early fall. Or was it late spring? Never mind all that, Gary Hergenrader says. It isn’t the season he remembers today, but the site: the old campground across the water, a dozen red cabins clinging like ticks to the canyon walls, the lodge overlooking Lake Ogallala, the geology exposed in the rocky shelves above. Before retiring in 2005, Hergenrader served nearly 25 years as the Nebraska state forester.
IMG_4231.JPG
Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!
COPYRIGHT RESTRICTED Cedar Point
Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!
260 miles from Lincoln, a little-known, cash-strapped NU outpost spawns renowned work - and serious awe
The year was 1974. It was early fall. Or was it late spring? Never mind all that, Gary Hergenrader says. It isn’t the season he remembers today, but the site: the old campground across the water, a dozen red cabins clinging like ticks to the canyon walls, the lodge overlooking Keystone Lake, the geology exposed in the rocky shelves above.
A 'Green Glacier' Is Dismantling the Great Plains
One hundred and fifty years ago on Thursday, the novelist Willa Cather was born in her grandmother's house in Virginia. Though she drew from her Southern childhood throughout her career, plucking memories like grapes from the vine, it was the swelling prairies of Nebraska - surreal in their expanse, in their commune with the sky, in the almost tidal energy underfoot - that conjured her most enduring works, the bluestem eternal that proved her muse.
Opinion | A ‘Green Glacier’ Is Dismantling the Great Plains
One hundred and fifty years ago on Thursday, the novelist Willa Cather was born in her grandmother’s house in Virginia. Though she drew from her Southern childhood throughout her career, plucking memories like grapes from the vine, it was the swelling prairies of Nebraska — surreal in their expanse, in their commune with the sky, in the almost tidal energy underfoot — that conjured her most enduring works, the bluestem eternal that proved her muse.
Opinion | A ‘Green Glacier’ Is Dismantling the Great Plains
Opinion|A ‘Green Glacier’ Is Dismantling the Great Plains https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/07/opinion/prairie-great-plains-trees.html Guest Essay Mr. Vaughan is a freelance journalist and a native of Nebraska who writes frequently about the Great Plains. He is the author of “Zoo Nebraska: The Dismantling of an American Dream.” Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning.
Opinion | A ‘Green Glacier’ Is Dismantling the Great Plains
Opinion|A ‘Green Glacier’ Is Dismantling the Great Plains https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/07/opinion/prairie-great-plains-trees.html Guest Essay Mr. Vaughan is a freelance journalist and a native of Nebraska who writes frequently about the Great Plains. He is the author of “Zoo Nebraska: The Dismantling of an American Dream.” Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning.
Former home of Nebraska cattle baron for sale. Asking price: $40 million.
CORONADO, Calif. — The tides were hungry in the winter of 1905, the waves relentless, and Bartlett Richards’ new mansion teetered on the edge. The wide, dirt boulevard that once separated his tidy front yard from the beach now crumbled into the Pacific. Neighboring homes stood on jacks, awaiting a horse-drawn retreat, and sweaty men in salty boots stacked 200-pound sandbags like hay bales in the surf. Seven thousand down. Twenty thousand stuffed and ready.
Former home of Nebraska cattle baron for sale. Asking price: $40 million. Original
CORONADO, Calif. — The tides were hungry in the winter of 1905, the waves relentless, and Bartlett Richards’ new mansion teetered on the edge. The wide, dirt boulevard that once separated his tidy front yard from the beach now crumbled into the Pacific. Neighboring homes stood on jacks, awaiting a horse-drawn retreat, and sweaty men in salty boots stacked 200-pound sandbags like hay bales in the surf. Seven thousand down. Twenty thousand stuffed and ready.
Nebraska cattle baron's mansion for sale in California. Asking price: $40 million
CORONADO, Calif. — The tides were hungry in the winter of 1905, the waves relentless, and Bartlett Richards’ new mansion teetered on the edge. The wide, dirt boulevard that once separated his tidy front yard from the beach now crumbled into the Pacific. Neighboring homes stood on jacks, awaiting a horse-drawn retreat, and sweaty men in salty boots stacked 200-pound sandbags like hay bales in the surf. Seven thousand down. Twenty thousand stuffed and ready.
Former home of Nebraska cattle baron for sale. Asking price: $40 million.
CORONADO, Calif. –The tides were hungry in the winter of 1905, the waves relentless, and Bartlett Richards’ new mansion – his wife called it “Tranquillo” – teetered on the edge. The wide, dirt boulevard that once separated his tidy front yard from the beach now crumbled into the Pacific. Neighboring homes stood on jacks, awaiting a horse-drawn retreat, and sweaty men in salty boots stacked 200-pound sandbags like hay bales in the surf. Seven thousand down. Twenty thousand stuffed and ready.
From Brand Ambassador to Integral Club Member
In addition to his in-house team of three, Alfredo Naim ’07, director of fan development for Austin FC, manages the Oak Ops, a group of about 30 brand ambassadors and community liaisons named after Austin FC’s oak tree logo — itself a reference to the synergy and intertwined spirits of the city and the club. Naim also considers the group a conduit for drawing talented Austin FC enthusiasts into the club, a steppingstone between fandom and full employment.
St. Edward's Alumni Grow Roots with Austin FC
In 2019, Austin Football Club became the city’s first major league sports team. St. Edward’s University students and alumni are working behind the scenes — and out in the community — to make it an integral part of the capital city’s culture.
Alumni Channel Hilltop Spirit for Austin FC
Thanks to alumni like Alfredo Naim '07, Tony Ho '21 and others, the St. Edward’s-to-Austin FC pipeline is growing more robust. But all of them will tell you that supporters groups like Los Verdes and La Murga de Austin are every bit as vital to the club as the front office. The band, especially, Naim says, “is something that we’re really proud of." “The supporters love it, and as a staff, we love it, too. It’s a huge asset that happened organically.
A speck of old Iceland on Lake Michigan, in Wisconsin’s Door County
Five hours after leaving Chicago, we ran out of pavement. At the tip of the Door Peninsula in northeastern Wisconsin, the ice cream parlors disappeared. Just a simple ticket booth, and the breakwaters beyond, and a small archipelago gathered like clouds on the horizon. A grinning crewman waved us aboard a 92-ton ferry, and before my wife, Mel, and I could exit our car, the Arni J. Richter was plowing through Lake Michigan.
Washington Island, a Speck of Old Iceland in Wisconsin
Travel|A Speck of Old Iceland in Ice-Cold Lake Michigan https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/travel/washington-island-wisconsin.html You can still find traces of Nordic history in the trails and trees of tiny Washington Island, Wis. And take a dip while you’re there — if you dare. Schoolhouse Beach, on Washington Island, Wis., is covered with smooth white stones, many of them stacked in cairns.
Dark skies, dangling questions greet hundreds at 30th annual Nebraska Star Party
MERRITT RESERVOIR — Last September, the International Dark-Sky Association confirmed what veterans of the Nebraska Star Party have known for 30 years: On a clear night, the Sandhills boast some of the darkest skies on Earth. Thanks to a joint effort between two Nebraska state agencies, the 729-acre Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area — spilling like a broken vessel across the heart of Cherry County — is now the first certified International Dark Sky Park in the state.
DSC_0063.JPG
The average borrower takes 21 years to repay their student l… If you don't want to be repaying your loans for the better p…
Dark skies, dangling questions greet hundreds at 30th annual Nebraska Star Party Original
MERRITT RESERVOIR, Neb. — Last September, the International Dark-Sky Association confirmed what veterans of the Nebraska Star Party have known for 30 years: On a clear night, the Sandhills boast some of the darkest skies on Earth. Thanks to a joint effort between two Nebraska state agencies, the 729-acre Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area — spilling like a broken vessel across the heart of Cherry County — is now the first certified International Dark Sky Park in the state.
Dark skies, dangling questions greet hundreds at 30th annual Nebraska Star Party
MERRITT RESERVOIR – Last September, the International Dark-Sky Association confirmed what veterans of the Nebraska Star Party have known for 30 years: On a clear night, the Sandhills boast some of the darkest skies on Earth. Thanks to a joint effort between two Nebraska state agencies, the 729-acre Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area – spilling like a broken vessel across the heart of Cherry County – is now the first certified International Dark Sky Park in the state.
Dark skies, dangling questions greet hundreds at 30th annual Nebraska Star Party
MERRITT RESERVOIR – Last September, the International Dark-Sky Association confirmed what veterans of the Nebraska Star Party have known for 30 years: On a clear night, the Sandhills boast some of the darkest skies on Earth. Thanks to a joint effort between two Nebraska state agencies, the 729-acre Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area – spilling like a broken vessel across the heart of Cherry County – is now the first certified International Dark Sky Park in the state.
Lost Treasures of the Old West
The American West is vast, and its treasures elusive. From the first Spanish explorers to cross the plains and deserts, the quest for the West’s rich lodes of silver and gold has been unceasing. And over the centuries, thousands of —stories some more fantastical than others—have surfaced around hidden riches, buried loot, and disappearing mines. Here is a handful of folktales of some of the most popular lost fortunes to have tantalized and eluded seekers for generations.
Lincoln, Nebraska, Was a ‘Greenwich Village’ on the Prairie for Mari Sandoz
Were I to write a Mari Sandoz biopic, I’d start with a shadow racing across her desk. I’d start at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 1935. I’d start with a 39-year-old hayseed — thin as a fence post and prickly as barbed wire — assaulting her typewriter on the ninth floor of the Nebraska State Capitol as a local bank teller plunges 135 feet to his death on the stone transept below. Perhaps I’d cut to the fingernail marks he left on the observation deck five floors above, or the note he left behind.
Remembering Nebraska's forgotten 'whodunit queen'
When reporter Eva Mahoney arrived in Valentine in 1930 to profile America's next great mystery novelist, she found Mignon Good Eberhart in a "pleasant little home," struggling to visualize her next murder. Bewitched by her new surroundings, the big skies and grassy dunes, the author had contrived a remote hunting lodge in the Nebraska Sandhills as the site for her fictional crime.
New Mystery Remembering Nebraska's forgotten "whodunit queen"
When reporter Eva Mahoney arrived in Valentine in 1930 to profile America’s next great mystery novelist, she found Mignon Good Eberhart in a “pleasant little home,” struggling to visualize her next murder. Bewitched by her new surroundings, the big skies and grassy dunes, the author had contrived a remote hunting lodge in the Nebraska Sandhills as the site for her fictional crime.
New Mystery: Remembering Nebraska’s forgotten 'whodunit queen'
When reporter Eva Mahoney arrived in Valentine in 1930 to profile America’s next great mystery novelist, she found Mignon Good Eberhart in a “pleasant little home,” struggling to visualize her next murder. Bewitched by her new surroundings, the big skies and grassy dunes, the author had contrived a remote hunting lodge in the Nebraska Sandhills as the site for her fictional crime.
New Mystery: Remembering Nebraska's forgotten "whodunit queen"
When reporter Eva Mahoney arrived in Valentine in the spring of 1930, bound to profile America’s next great mystery novelist for the Omaha World-Herald, she found Mignon Good Eberhart in a “pleasant little home,” struggling to visualize her next murder. Bewitched by her new surroundings, the big skies and grassy dunes, the author had contrived a remote hunting lodge in the Nebraska Sandhills as the site for her fictional crime.
Environment | Opinion
Guest Essay The idea that free markets can solve societal problems and that climate change can be fixed without regulation is a ruse. By Auden Schendler Dec. 12, 2023 Guest Essay As the climate crisis grows ever more urgent, the U.A.E. is championing a dangerously seductive approach to the problem. By Alex Simon Dec. 8, 2023 Guest Essay The spare but overpowering landscape celebrated by Willa Cather is one of the most endangered ecosystems on the planet. By Carson Vaughan Dec.
After wildfire, a hand-planted Nebraska forest confronts its history
By the time Tedd Teahon climbed the Scott Lookout Tower at the Nebraska National Forest, around 2:18 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2, the Bovee Fire had already climbed from the understory to the crown, from the cedar to the pine, and was now barreling north toward the highway. The state 4-H campground stood directly in its path: the historic lodge, the education building, the cabins. So did the fire tower beneath him. And the Bessey Nursery, too, the oldest federal seedling nursery in the United States.
After Bovee Fire, Nebraska National Forest confronts its hand-planted history
Window for discovery Just days after the Bovee Fire, district ranger Julie Bain surveyed the aftermath from the backseat of Teahon’s truck, shaking her head in disbelief as they rambled through row after (perfectly spaced) row of blackened cedar and pine. Once soft with evergreens, the hills now crested like the spine of a porcupine, a tableau of mottled sand and spikes. Even then, she said, her “more rational ecological side” encouraged their return to grassland.
Camera Cowboy
Skip to content Stick-thin, clean-shaven, and with soft features, Erwin Smith hardly cut the weather-beaten figure of the West Texas cowboys he so admired. Not that it mattered much.
Thirty years later, a Taylor-made mystery lives on
In the summer of 1978, Allen Wilke slammed the brakes. He did this often. A true plantsman, he observed everything but the road itself. He would spy a flowering prickly pear in the ditch, a wild grapevine. He would double back without warning, often sending his son and daughter — half asleep in his gutted cargo van’s backseat — tumbling forward with their luggage. This time, the plantsman was alone.
Attack of the clones: Thirty years ater, a Taylor-made mystery lives on
Attack of the clones: Thirty years ater, a Taylor-made mystery lives on Share Tweet 0 Comments November 17, 2022 In the summer of 1978, Allen Wilke slammed the brakes. He did this often. A true plantsman, he observed everything but the road itself. He would spy a flowering prickly pear in the ditch, a wild grapevine. He would double back without warning, often sending his son and daughter – half asleep in his gutted cargo van's backseat – tumbling forward with their luggage.
Attack of the Clones: Thirty Years Later, A Taylor-Made Mystery Lives On
In the summer of 1978, Allen Wilke slammed the brakes. He did this often. A true plantsman, he observed everything but the road itself. He would spy a flowering prickly pear in the ditch, a wild grapevine, and double back without warning. He would take a photo, a cutting, shuffle back to his gutted cargo van and carry on. He wore dusty chinos and a pocket protector, and often sent his son and daughter – half-asleep in his jerry rigged backseat – tumbling forward with the rest of his luggage.
Attack of the Clones: Thirty Years Later, A Taylor-Made Mystery Lives On
In the summer of 1978, Allen Wilke slammed the brakes. He did this often. A true plantsman, he observed everything but the road itself. He would spy a flowering prickly pear in the ditch, a wild grapevine, and double back without warning. He would take a photo, a cutting, shuffle back to his gutted cargo van and carry on. He wore dusty chinos and a pocket protector, and often sent his son and daughter – half-asleep in his jerry rigged backseat – tumbling forward with the rest of his luggage.
Fire at Nebraska National Forest destroys beloved 4-H campground
“Everybody pulls together” Gusty southern winds then marshaled the inferno north and west through the hand-planted forest -- fueled by severe drought and bone-dry underbrush -- before wayward embers drifted further north across Highway 2 and set the neighboring ranchland ablaze. Mike Moody, a volunteer firefighter and beloved Sandhiller, suffered a heart attack and died while chasing the fire into open grassland.
Nebraska Noir: Legendary Crime Writer Forgotten Man In Home State
You are here Home » Nebraska Noir: Legendary Crime Writer Forgotten Man In Home State Published by Nikki Palmer on Thu, 09/29/2022 - 3:00am Seventy years ago this month, a 25-cent paperback called “The Killer Inside Me” hit newsstands across the country.
Flatwater Free Press highlights Nebraska's forgotten crime writer
Image from illustration by Jeffrey Koterba NEBRASKA CITY - Carson Vaughan of the Flatwater Free Press reports this week on a Nebraskan who wrote one of the most famous crime novels of the 20th Century, but is hardly known, even in his own hometown of Burwell. A first edition of Jim Thompson's 25-cent paperback entitled "The Killer Inside of Me" is trading today at $850 and a set of his work is listed over $6,000.
Show More
loading
Actions
Get in touch with Carson
Contact Carson, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack