David Coggins

A chronicle of the artist’s 1995 travels to cities around the world. The book combines encounters with the people he met — from artists and journalists to poets and opera singers — with ruminations about place and restlessness and the changing nature of cities. Containing over ninety photographs and drawings, The Nostalgic Heart is a celebration of urban life. Coggins went to Lima, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Berlin, Prague, Delhi, Cairo, and Istanbul among other cities. He contends that the beauty and humanity of “the old square” continue to offer a model for living in the digital age. Recipient 2007 Independent Publisher Book Award “Conventional wisdom holds that travel is very broadening. This beguiling, unconventional book demonstrates that, for David Coggins at least, travel can also enhance focus. With his creative energies and humane curiosity, Coggins concentrates his attention on finding the heart of far-flung locales—a marvelous conceit, and one that offers endless possibility for encounter and discovery. In charting his course with words and images, he reveals himself, his hand, and his vision in the geography. His passion for experience and his modest, respectful awe in the face of cultures not his own resonate in every page.” George Slade, Artistic Director, Minnesota Center for Photography

"We all agree that manners today are not what they should be. Though the rules of civility have changed as the world has, Coggins believes in the enduring importance of manners and a generous temperament even in the age of the iPhone. This timely book doesn't tell you which fork to use or how to tie a bow tie. Rather, it reminds you of basic, respectful guidelines you may have forgotten or chosen to ignore. With essays, interviews and expert insight, Coggins makes the case for being the modern man who tips well, offers his seat, picks up the tab and who remembers to do what's right even if it isn't always rewarded"--Back cover.

Something about the woman hit John Roper hard, right in the gut. She was frightened, her face bruised, yet her inner beauty and bravery were immediately apparent. And there was no way in hell he was leaving her alone to face a roomful of rowdy cowboys and whatever desperate circumstances had brought her there in the first place.But how he got from those first thoughts to making her his wife was something he was still wrestling with the next day.... He knew he'd put his life on the line to protect her. But would a man who knew nothing about being a husband ever be able to give Katie the happy ending she so deserved?

'Paris in Winter' combines fanciful ink and watercolor drawings by American artist and writer David Coggins with vignettes about his family's annual New Year's sojourns to Paris, which, because of their unending love for the city, they've been taking together for almost 20 years.