Stuff People Seem To Want To Know
Alumna of Columbia University, NY, NY (Columbia College, BA in comparative politics with a minor in architecture), University of Wisconsin-Madison (MA in science journalism) and The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY (AS in Baking and Pastry Arts).
Senior editor and writer at Atlas Obscura. Former senior editor at Discover. Previous employers include The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the U.S. Department of State.
Aside from all four time zones of the continental U.S., I’ve lived in Antarctica, New Zealand, Russia, Germany and Canada.
Stuff I Feel You Should Know
I am a high school dropout (this is true). I applied to get into the college I really wanted to attend while I was a junior in high school. Even though I didn’t have the credits to graduate or get a GED, Columbia accepted me. I never looked back.
I have been to all seven continents and earned a paycheck on four of them.
I really love oatmeal. But only proper oatmeal. Not that “overnight oats” stuff and definitely not the garbage full of nuts and fruit and maple syrup. Steel cut oats, water, salt. That’s it. People who know my culinary background and ask what my favorite food is tend to be very disappointed when they learn this.
I’m a beekeeper and also make wild-fermented mead. In addition to wrangling my two rescue dogs, I volunteer as a dogwalker at a local shelter.
Who Is StoriesThatAreTrue?
That would be me. Back in 2009 when I moved to New Zealand, a former journalism professor (and current mentor and friend) demanded I start blogging again after I’d taken a break during a particularly tumultuous year. I set up Stories That Are True, another WordPress blog (not to be confused with StoriesThatAreTrue.com, with which I have no connection).
I stopped updating that blog in 2012 when I ran out of free media space (lots of photos from New Zealand, Antarctica, Australia, Norway and elsewhere). When I set up GemmaTarlach.com, the author name of StoriesThatAreTrue followed me here. I know I could fix that in a minute or so, but it would complicate the volunteer webmaster work I do for a charity event as StoriesThatAreTrue. Maybe one day I will change it and own up to all my posts/webwork. But it is not this day.
Words I Take To Heart
“Be cunning and don’t panic. Rely upon the agility of your wit.” – Professor Eugene Rice, advice on taking his notoriously difficult European History midterm but good counsel in any case.
“Not all those who wander are lost.” – JRR Tolkien
“Season fearlessly.” – Chef Justin Hoffmann
Gemma Tarlach 
Just found you! What a treat!
Hellllllllo?
Hi Gemma,
i have enjoyed reading your Journal/Sentinel articles, and particularly the most recent on Antarctica… I am an academic putting together an anthology entitled Video Games Around the World, and have been trying to get information on the use of video games in Antarctica, just for the sake of completeness. Even a few paragraphs would be great, and of course they would be credited. Would you, or someone you know, be able to write a bit on the topic? Thanks,
Mark J. P. Wolf
Communication Department
Concordia University Wisconsin
mark.wolf@cuw.edu
Hi Jemma! I’ve enjoyed discovering your work just now. This is Beth from our A-100 class. I am organizing a 20 year reunion and would love to send you details. You can email me at travelbackroad@aol.com.
I did some research (fancy that!) and found you here. My! So you DID spend a long time in Antarctica. Way cool. I’ll travel around the site and read up.
I am a 64 year old woman who has struggled with a learning disability since childhood, that makes it difficult to read. Add to that a mild head injury in an auto accident in my 40’s, I read maybe 5 books a year. But today I was captivated by your article ‘Tenacious To The Bone’. I found myself excited by your descriptions of Nizar Ibrahim’s passionate study and research of the Spinosaurus in the Sahara Desert and I just had to read more.
Just a simple thank you for writing such a fascinating article.
Thank you, Carol, and my apologies for not replying sooner. I check this site rarely due to my work obligations. But I’m delighted to hear you enjoyed my article! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
I noticed your article in Discover. “Hominin Trackways in Greece? The Game Is Afoot”‘, just walk on the beach and you will see this is obvious. I immediately recognized the imprint. Heel to toe. The weight is distributed through the inner “ball” of the foot, hence the deeper impression.
Thank You on your article Beyond DNA. I have to do a paper on an article and I chose what you did on DNA,in Discover September of 2017
Dear Gemma,
I read all of your articles in Discover Magazine first, before any others in the magazine, because I get a kick out of your writing style.
Thanks for making reading about science fun!
Regarding your Atlas Obscura article “The Curious Past and Uncertain Future of the Original ‘Meander’”: I recall having read a Scientific American article on the physics and mathematics of meanders almost 60 years ago (yes, I’m old!), in which the shape they tend toward was described as a “sine-generated curve,” and I was wondering if you had read it. If you haven’t and you are interested, you can find it at https://www.jstor.org/stable/24930965.
P.S. Steel-cut with salt is the ONLY way to eat oatmeal. Brava! (Though I add butter in addition.)
Hi Gemma this is Rodger I was just on the right on wpr Central time talking about finding the remains of a building in the Kohler peat swamp on the st. Croix River . Now it is Governor Nolan’s Forest . This is in Burnet county . By The crex Meadows . He should come up this to this area and check out the Lost stuff when he around here. There’s so many cool things to see and discover a places that have been around here in the past. Thanks have a great day you can email me back if you’d like .
Gemma loved your article titled, Right or Left: Human Handedness Is An Ancient Trait, and thoroughly researched I must say. Now if we can just get the right-handed bigots in our world to stop using terms like “lefty” and “southpaw,” – equivalent to derogatory names given to all kinds of minorities – our public schools and private conversations would have the, uh hum, upper hand. Thanks again.
Dear Gemma
This days story on ‘Pneumonia Fronts’ clears up a 43 year old mystery.
I witnessed a similar weather event in August, 1979 while on vacation in the Houghton-Hancock area of Lake Superior on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Nothing like this ever happened in North Carolina!
We saw what looked like a weather front on the northern horizon actually took almost 20 minutes to reach us.
Clouds of fog rolled onto the beach out of nowhere, and the air immediately dropped about 30 degrees. I recall the flies in the house dropping out of the air and onto the floor of the rental house because of the temperature differential.
Soon, the front passed on the the temperature began to rise.
V.Dinkley North Carolina age 68
Gemma, I just read your fascinating piece on the Norwegian ‘demon wall’ on Atlas Obscura. The questions that immediately arise for me are: 1) Did the artist have no oversight? Did he not have an agency or patron who was checking his work? 2) What was he restoring in this wall? Is it still lurking underneath his demons? I ask, because, as an illustrator myself, I am beholden to my client and feel them monitoring me as I work. Apparently Gotaas was given carte blanche? And no one at the time said “what’s this all crazy image”?
Your article “Adventure is Accessible When You Think Outside the Box” on atlas obscura was deeply misguided. You allowed your subject to focus on her own initiative rather than the many people who literally carried her through her adventures. As a disabled person, this is considered “inspiration porn” of a person with the means to pay people who can override her disability in certain situations. I understand you were trying to inspire able bodied people to adventure, because a disabled person can do it. But thinking outside the box did not enable your subject to traverse terrain, having cash to hire people did. It is deeply disrespectful to other disabled people to say they just need to think outside the box to travel, when most are in poverty. At least let her thank the actual people who made it happen.
Hi Jenny. Your comment assumes a great deal about me, about Kory, and about the purpose of the column. Exploration for Everyone is intended to highlight the experiences of people with adventurous and curious spirits who have a range of backgrounds, ages, abilities, locations, and interests. As the person who developed the column and has conducted several interviews that will appear over the next several weeks, I want to be clear that the point of E4E is not “trying to inspire able bodied people to adventure because a disabled person can do it.” The point of the column is to share the experiences of a range of people who are *not* celebrities, professional adventurers, influencers, etc., and to give them the spotlight to talk about what they want to talk about regarding their travels. From your comment, it seems you are unhappy that Kory’s comments do not reflect your own views and experiences, but the views and experiences of members of the disabled community are as varied as the members themselves. Regarding costs, I suggest you read the column again, perhaps setting aside your assumptions, and note that Kory shared information about specific organizations that have options for people with little or no budget for travel. Not every person has the same interests, budget, or abilities, but I feel Kory’s point was clear: Focusing on what is available and what is possible is more productive than focusing on what is not available and not possible. I would never presume to speak for the disabled community as a whole but, as a disabled person who can no longer travel as I once did for a variety of reasons, including financial, I found her approach to be really heartening. Please note that you have chosen to comment on my personal page, and my reply reflects my personal views.