A COLLECTION BY ROB URBAN

The Inspiration
Series

People worth knowing.
Work worth a closer look.

160 essays about the people who make, teach, discover,
care for a place, and give us something to return to.

Good work deserves
our attention.

I like finding out what sits behind the work that stays with us. Sometimes it is a small decision: a clearer explanation, a different material, a place left for somebody else to join in. Sometimes it is years of patient effort before the result becomes visible.

These essays are my way of looking more closely. They move between artists and inventors, performers and teachers, familiar names and people whose work may be new to you. Each begins with something specific I admire.

I hope you leave with more affection for the subject, a detail you want to tell someone, or a reason to explore further. Choose a starting point below, or follow a name that catches your interest.

THREE PLACES TO BEGIN

Follow your curiosity.

THE PLEASURE OF MAKING

Adam Savage

The workshop index, the unfinished object, and an invitation to pull up to the bench.

THE PLEASURE OF LISTENING

Yo-Yo Ma

Bach, musical companions, and the possibility of hearing more of the world.

CARE THAT BECOMES USEFUL

José Andrés

Local knowledge, generous collaborators, and the care inside a meal.

For another kind of invitation: LeVar Burton and the welcome of a story. For movement and possibility: Misty Copeland and a place to begin. For a new direction: Steve Martin and the next unexpected beat.

CLOSER TO HOME

Across Florida.

Fifty profiles of people working in Florida communities: making art, widening opportunity, looking after water, helping families find stability, and keeping local stories in view.

You might begin with Erica Group in DeLand, Ken Nedimyer in the Keys, or Mary Downey in Kissimmee. Their work offers very different ways into the place.

Browse all 50 Florida profiles

Further reading

Octavia Butler and the Work Between Inspiration and a Finished Page
The notebooks, library visits, and revisions make room for a fuller kind of admiration: a writer thinking, learning, and continuing.

THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

Everyone, A to Z.

Browse all 160 essays by first name or the name a person is known by. The Florida profiles are included here too.

A–C

Back to the index

D–H

Back to the index

I–M

Back to the index

N–R

Back to the index

S–Z

Back to the index

A little more about
these appreciations.

The essays link to sources so you can follow the work further. My interpretations are my own. Writing about someone here does not imply a personal relationship or an endorsement from that person.

I am interested in the work and in the people who help make it possible. That includes the collaborators, teachers, communities and less visible hands that deserve a place in the story.

If you would like to know who is doing the noticing, meet Rob. You can also explore the other PaperBoat collections.

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