Author, musician, linguist and raconteur David Boe has a history of developing innovative ideas. His latest book, "Walk With Me," grew out of the enthusiastic response to the guided visits he offers in the Hoyt Arboretum.
As a longtime neighbor of the park, he had spent years hiking its trails, usually, with his small dachshund, Buddy, at his side. "Buddy always loves going to the park because they give him a free cookie at the Visitor Center," he says.
As an Airbnb host, he had often taken houseguests there to see the interesting sights. The feedback was so positive that he decided to create a formal Airbnb "Experience" hike out of it.
"To do that, I had to turn myself into an expert on the park," he explains. "I spent months exploring and studying the Arboretum's trails, plant inventory, history, mission and purpose. The more I learned, the more I appreciated what an incredible treasure it is."
Moreover, he soon discovered how much he enjoyed sharing "aha moments" with guests who accompanied him on his tours. This motivated him to find ways to convey all of the most fun and interesting elements he had learned from his research.
Weaving together deep personal connections to the area into a compelling narrative about the park and the city, Mr Boe created a two hour park visit that offered many such aha moments along every trail. "I've worked to put into the book all of the best and most interesting details I've learned over the years," he says.
"Walk With Me" is Mr Boe's sixth book.
His groundbreaking first book, How To Improve Your Chops Without Playing A Note, introduced a concept already widely accepted by athletes—cross training and physical therapy—into musical performance.
"As musicians, our bodies are the primary, essential instrument," he said. "You can have the most beautiful instrument in the world, but if you don't have the chops to play it, it won't do you any good."
This focus on the purely physical aspect of musicianship led to an epiphany during a rehearsal of the William Tell Overture (better known as the Theme for the Lone Ranger) which resulted in the discovery of a new approach to treating snoring and sleep apnea. Diagnosed with severe sleep apnea in 2003, Mr. Boe had been unable to acclimate himself to the prescribed CPAP appliance, a device that holds the airway open during sleep by Continuous Positive Air Pressure.
Determined to find a natural cure for snoring, his groundbreaking research into its causes are summarized in his Kindle e-book, The 3 Day Snoring Cure. The book explains not only why people snore, but also how to easily fix it using simple isometric exercises inspired by the musical technique known as “double-tonguing,” which is the trick that allows players of wind instruments to perform the types of super-fast musical passages that would be impossible to play otherwise.
Applying these concepts to snoring, Mr. Boe found that he was able to cure not only his own snoring and severe sleep apnea, but, over more than ten years of inquiry, he determined that anyone who took the few minutes required to learn the exercises can enjoy the same outcomes.
The 3 Day Snoring Cure was published in 2016, with plans to further adapt and refine the concepts for a separate edition devoted to sleep apnea.
As a creative writer and linguist, Mr. Boe developed an exciting pirate story for kids, “The Legend of Greenbeard, the Famous Pirate of Poitiers.” Drawing on his near-native capabilities as a speaker of French, Mr. Boe weaves a tale that takes readers through a town in central France (where he completed two years of advanced university studies), stretching from the 12th century reign of Eleanor of Aquitaine through to the current day.
A lifelong musician, creative thinker and francophile, Mr. Boe has played the trumpet for more than 40 years. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
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