RANGE Magazine is a biannual print publication dedicated to the outdoor, active and lifestyle markets. We provide content that ignites discussion of design, style, trend and industry movement, and we love unique stories that bring something new and fresh to the table. While the submission period for RANGE Magazine Issue 11 is now closed, we are always excited to accept unsolicited submissions from writers, photographers, artists and brand creatives for our print and digital platforms at submissions@thisisrange.com.
The Summer 2019 issue is dedicated to origin, culture and land. Mother Nature has called out to us since the inception of time, singing her siren song to generation after generation. That primal draw to the outdoors can awaken in us a sense of purpose and meaningful connection to people, place and planet.
The origin of my connection to the outdoors is intrinsically linked with the paternal lineage of my family. My grandfather, Anthony Pesce, a first-generation American, was an urban naturalist and avid outdoorsman. He was a hunter, a fly fisherman and, from his time serving in the U.S. military during World War II on the Aleutian Islands, a survivalist.
When he was 15 years old, Tony joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and left his home in Brooklyn, New York, for the expansive west. Launched in the 1930s, the CCC was a major part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. In an effort to bolster the economy after the Great Depression, the government developed the program to provide jobs related to the conservation of natural resources in rural areas to young, unmarried men. Projects included planting trees, building flood barriers, fighting forest fires and maintaining forest trails and roads.
The CCC introduced these young men to the wild places that would come to be known as Yellowstone National Park and Badlands National Park. Not only did they develop essential skills, they also learned about preserving tribal lands and promoting sustainable ranching and farming directly from the Native Americans who worked in a parallel program called the Civilian Conservation Corps Indian Division (CCCID). Although this ultimately followed suit with standard colonization practices that did not benefit the Native American people, these young men were forever changed by their sacred connection to the land. When it was time to return to the city, they came back with a deep-seated love of nature and an unyielding passion for conservation.
During his time out west with the CCC, my grandfather learned how to hunt. His parents had immigrated to the U.S. from Naples, Italy — where hunting was a large part of provincial European culture — in 1906. Small game like rabbits, pigeons and squab were seen as regional delicacies. An old Italian recipe called sufrite, a rich stew made from organs including the heart, lungs and liver, was a common dish found in any immigrant household.
On the weekends, when Tony wasn’t working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, he’d make the pilgrimage to the Catskills with uncles, aunts and cousins in tow. They’d fish in the morning and hunt in the afternoon, always eating everything they caught. My grandfather’s brothers were proficient craftsmen, each with a distinct notable skill. Uncle Rocco made wooden tackle boxes to house the ties they used for fly fishing. Uncle Cono was the family chef, cooking on a beat-up Coleman stove from the back of his station wagon.
Uncle Angelo would shoot blackbirds by the railroad tracks because they were the “best in the red sauce.” He lost an eye at some point, earning the nickname “Hawkeye,” and when my dad went pheasant hunting with Angelo, my grandfather would say, “Stay on the side with the good eye.”
As a little girl, the brilliant black-bear rug that lay in the parlor of my family’s brownstone in Park Slope mesmerized me. I had no idea it was once a living, breathing creature, and I would later learn my grandfather killed it in a remote area of the Canadian wilderness only accessible by a small propeller plane. While he was raised Roman Catholic, my grandfather truly believed he didn’t need organized religion because he felt “closest to God and humanity when he was outdoors.”
I’ve often felt a similar spiritual relationship to Mother Nature but can never articulate exactly why. My dad, who was an Eagle Scout, would remind me often, “The Pesces are Earth people.” A commitment to conservation, a love of nature and respect for the land are woven into our DNA.
My family’s experiences in nature are part of my origin story, of who I am. As we discover in Issue 11 and everyday conversations, “origin” takes on a different meaning for all of us. When it comes to the outdoors and our wilderness experiences, the lineage of the land we recreate on is the sum of the millions of people, traditions, ideas and mythologies that have protected and honored this shared space. It’s our responsibility to unearth everyone’s story and give agency to the healers, the makers, the explorers, the artists and the adventurers who’ve broken trail before us.
To uncovering, embracing and honoring our origins.
XX Jeanine Pesce, Editorial Director
Cover art by Brian Merriam.
RANGE Magazine Issue 11 hits stands June 17, 2019. Pre-order your copy HERE.