Lauren Greasewater's War
Stephen Hirst and his wife Lois served with the first contingent of Peace Corps volunteers to Liberia, West Africa. Following Liberia, they lived in Bologna, Italy, where Steve studied international relations at The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. After Bologna, Steve became Soviet Desk Officer for the US Commerce Department and took part in the US government’s first trade mission to eastern Europe. Later he served as Chief of Publications for the European Communities Information Service in Washington, DC. In 1967, Steve left the fast lane to begin a lifelong relationship with the Havasupai people of Arizona’s Grand Canyon. During the eleven years Steve and his wife lived in Havasu Canyon, their daughter was born and the Havasupai asked the Hirsts to research and document the case for winning back ancestral land. Steve’s award-winning book, I Am the Grand Canyon, and the historic enlargement of the Havasupai Reservation were the outcome of that work. After leaving Havasupai, Steve continued his connection with Native Americans by coordinating science and mathematics programs for Ojibwe and Potowatomi students in Michigan, where his wife became a distinguished professor. Steve and his wife now live in Arizona, where they volunteer as interpretive rangers for the US Forest Service and continue their friendship and work with the Havasupai people.