English lecturer Neil Miller can count among his accomplishments a successful freelance writing career and several award-winning books exploring gay and lesbian experiences around the world.
But it was Miller's affinity for travel and adventure that led him to examine another subject in his latest book: "Kartchner Caverns: How Two Cavers Discovered and Saved One of the Natural Wonders of the World," published in March.
After graduating from Brown University with a degree in English, Miller spent several years writing for various publications in Boston and, when possible, traveling.
Through his experiences as a journalist and self-proclaimed explorer, Miller was inspired to write several books concerning the state of homosexuality and society, both in American culture and in cultures around the world. For his writing about homosexuality, Miller won the American Library Association's Stonewall Book Award and The Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction.
Since writing his first four books, however, Miller has begun a new chapter in his writing career, exploring an entirely new subject in his latest work.
"Kartchner Caverns" depicts the true story of the discovery of long underground limestone caves in southern Arizona by Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts, two amateur spelunkers fresh out of college. While the caves were opened to the public in 1999, Miller focused on the 14 years prior, during which Tenen and Tufts went to extreme lengths to keep their discovery a secret for fear of looting and destruction.
Miller visited the caverns himself once they opened to the public and said he was fascinated that, in such a well-mapped and modern world, these amateur spelunkers had discovered something so magnificent.
"We think there's nothing left to discover," Miller said.
He was further impressed by the character of both Tufts and Tenen, and so the motivation to write a book about their story was born. "They were so committed, with a sense of responsibility to preserve [their finding]," Miller said.
Miller approached Tenen, who was working in Tucson, with the idea to turn the story into a book and found he was not the only one who had made such an offer - but Tenen was reluctant to allow a book to be written about his and Tufts' experience with the Kartchner Caverns.
"[Tenen] kept saying, 'It's really not that interesting,'" Miller said. "But we hit it off to some extent - maybe it was the right moment." Despite Tenen's reluctance, Miller was able to convince Tenen that the story was worth writing about.
The book follows Tenen and Tufts, who spent many of their weekends exploring the Whetstone Mountains, but believed the smaller hills on the eastern face of the mountains to be too small to contain any significant caves. But when Tufts and his girlfriend found a new sinkhole near a previously explored site, he dragged Tenen with him, convinced of the possibility that something great might lie beneath.
The two wandered in, and to their delight found themselves squeezing through small rock openings that yielded room after room of caves. After chiseling away at a blowhole the size of a grapefruit, they crawled over 250 feet on their hands and knees, eventually reaching a corridor where they could stand. Though the two felt like they were in a different world, they were really only eight miles from the interstate highway.
The duo backed out of the cave in fear because no one knew of their whereabouts. This secrecy would become one of the duo's best assets, however, when they decided their discovery should remain underground until they could guarantee it would not be disturbed.
Tenen and Tufts' goal to keep the caverns a secret were met. Even when the state legislature was voting on the decision to buy the caves and create a state park, those who were brought into the cave were blindfolded until they reached the interior, and many of those voting in the legislature had no idea what the piece of land contained.
Tufts died at a young age due to a rare form of cancer, but in his discovery he realized his dream since childhood to discover a virgin cave.
Although this vast departure from the themes of his earlier works may seem arbitrary, Miller explained that he enjoyed writing about the topic because of an affinity for the geographic region. "I've always loved the southwest and spent much of my time out there," he said.
