Photo: Freelance writer Dave Howard hiked 40 miles through the largest tract of rain forest left in Central America to reach the lost city of El Mirador, and interview Dr. Richard Hansen.

Hiking Eighty Miles Through A Guatemalan Jungle To The Lost City Of El Mirador

              Story and Photographs By John Murray 

Editor’s Note: The following story is an account of a 12 day adventure that transpired in July 2003 when Observer publisher, John Murray, travelled into the jungles of northeast Guatemala with his friend, Dave Howard, who was on assignment for Travel & Leisure Magazine. Murray was invited along to photograph the expedition and fired off 45 rolls of film. Murray damaged his Canon EOS camera during the journey and 60% of the images were unusable, and totally out of focus. After emerging from the jungle, the good film languished inside the photo department at Travel and Leisure for ten months, and was ultimately never used in Howard’s feature story. By the time the images were returned to Murray, and he had gathered notes, tapes and recollections from Dave Howard, nearly a year had elapsed. For the past 18 months the story lay buried beneath a jungle of details inside Murray’s head. Thankfully, and with great joy and relief, the story has been extracted from the thicket of Murray’s brain. We hope you enjoy the adventure.

Gone

Story By John Murray

   Billy is dead.

   That's what his parents think.

   After 18 months of tirelessly searching for their missing 32 year old son, Janice and William Smolinski now believe Billy is dead.

Born To Run

Story by John Torsiello

   Talk about tough acts to follow.

GHOST RIGHTERS

Column By David Howard

   My grandfather was a broad-shouldered Irish man with reddish brown that turned a pristine white in his 50s. He was a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan. You can draw your own conclusions about how much these two facts are related.

Waterbury Values

By Dr, Louis D'Abramo

   Thank you for this wonderful honor of induction. Thanks to the Selection Committee and to the Silas Bronson Library. This honor brings on different feelings, excitement, joy, humility, why me. I particularly thank those who have taken time today to be here and to share this special day with me.

(Editor's note - the following column was written by Observer publisher John Murray in October 2003, on the 10th anniversary of the newspaper. Eight years later the newspaper has transitioned into the digital world with new computers, digital cameras and a bustling website. The drama for survival, however, continues)

  The Waterbury Observer recently celebrated it’s tenth anniversary, and although this column may appear to be the sound of one hand clapping, I’m going to stop and celebrate some of the highs and lows along the journey.

   Any newspaper across America has the responsibility to reflect the community back upon itself, and somewhere along the way the Observer morphed into the chaos of the city. As Waterbury struggles and groans to transition itself from an industrial giant there has been an explosion of social problems that has permeated the community, problems that the Observer absorbed.

   Illness and mayhem seeped through our door.

Across Thin Ice

Story and Photographs By John Murray

    Momentum is a curious and powerful force.

   After traveling 48 hours non-stop from Waterbury, Connecticut, to a small Tibetan refugee camp tucked into the southwest corner of India, I felt like I was hanging ten as I surfed a large wave of momentum towards the beach. The 13,000 mile journey had taken me through barrels of bureaucratic red tape, through New York City, Newark Airport, Milan, Italy, Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) and into Goa, a resort town on the west coast of India. There had been visa headaches, ticketing problems, frantic last second packing, buses, taxis, three flights and finally a six hour drive from Goa along a treacherous mountain road frequented by monkeys, cows, buses, motorcycles, and thousands of Indians carrying water, wood and rocks on top of their heads.

   Nobody seemed to know her name, and in an odd way, it didn’t matter.  She needed help, and even though the two doctors spoke no Spanish, their actions transcended words and cultural barriers.  The little girl was hurt and these gringo doctors – National Guardsmen in camouflage fatigues – were there to help.

The Gov

Story and Photographs by John Murray

   The wise man edged close to the youth and whispered a secret in his ear. "Listen carefully,'' the man said, "and you will live a long and happy life. Work is doing something you don't enjoy doing. Find something you love and you'll never work a day in your life.''

   John Rowland logs staggering hours as governor of Connecticut, but you won't find him complaining about his whirlwind schedule -- he's too busy having fun. As the youngest governor in the United States, Rowland has found his passion. He tours Connecticut like a heated neuron, heads up a massive 52,000 employee workforce and routinely works 12 to 14 hours a day.

   His schedule and duties sound like the recipe for a daily migraine, but wherever Rowland goes he seems to have more fun than anyone else.