We talk with Colorado rancher and mother of five, Lara Richardson, about her memoir "The Table: Seasons on a Colorado Ranch." In the book, she reveals the complexities of modern frontier life in a picturesque Rocky Mountain valley and shares seasons of growth and loss in her family and community while exploring the stewardship of land, body, and soul. Richardson lays bare the deep moments of injury, mystery, and death while giving readers a glimpse into the daily demands and generous gifts of a livelihood that is becoming scarcer with each passing year.
A former white-water rafting guide on the Arkansas River, Lara Richardson lives with her husband and five kids on their family ranch in Salida, Colorado, where they raise over 300 Hereford mother cows and calves and grow over 30,000 bales of hay each summer. A voice for land stewardship, sustainable beef production, and the family farm, she is a 2021 graduate of Western Colorado University’s MFA Program in Nature Writing. "The Table" is her first published work.
