- published: 20 Jul 2015
- views: 15629
Coordinates: 58°13′13″N 6°22′59″W / 58.220163°N 6.38301°W / 58.220163; -6.38301
Lewis (Scottish Gaelic: Leòdhas, pronounced [ʎɔː.əs̪], also Isle of Lewis) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides (an archipelago) of Scotland. The total area of Lewis is 683 square miles (1,770 km2).
Lewis is, in general, the lower lying part of Lewis and Harris, with the other part, Harris, being more mountainous. The flatter, more fertile land means Lewis contains the largest settlement, Stornoway, and three-quarters of the population of the Western Isles. Beyond human habitation, the island's diverse habitats are home to an assortment of flora and fauna, such as the golden eagle, red deer and seals and are recognised in a number of conservation areas.
Lewis is of Presbyterian tradition with a rich history, having once been part of the Norse Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. Today, life is very different from elsewhere in Scotland with Sabbath observance, the Gaelic language and peat cutting retaining more importance than elsewhere. Lewis has a rich cultural heritage as can be seen from its myths and legends as well as the local literary and musical traditions.
Everett Lewis is an award winning independent filmmaker who has written and directed nine independent features: The Natural History of Parking Lots (Sundance, 1990), An Ambush of Ghosts (Sundance 1992), Skin & Bone (Toronto 1994, just re-released in Germany), Luster (Outfest 2000), FAQs, also known as Prends-Moi in France (Philadelphia 2002), Lucky Bastard (Outfest 2008), The Pretty Boys (2011), Somefarwhere (to be released in 2012, and premiered at the Paris Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Cheries Cherie). He is editing his tenth film: Territory (shot in the summer of 2011), and writing his eleventh (Lightning Field, to be shot summer 2012). His films were the subject of a retrospective in France, at Polychromes Festival in Nice, in October 2011.
Everett has helped to both create and continually define (and redefine) independent filmmaking as a genre. He has developed a significant oeuvre and contribution to cinema as a filmmaker working to explore, through fiction filmmaking, documentation of gay and lesbian characters and experiences. With hundreds of screenings, his films have been a staple of international festivals from the beginning of his career. He and his work have been profiled in the books The Indies: The Directors and Out At The Movies: A History of Gay Cinema.
I was born Everett Ruess
I've been dead for sixty years
I was just a young boy in my twenties
The day I disappeared
Into the Grand Escalante Badlands
Near the Utah and Arizona line
And they never found my body, boys
Or understood my mind
I grew up in California
And I loved my family and my home
But I ran away to the High Sierra
Where I could live free and alone
And folks said, ?He?s just another wild kid
He?ll grow out of it in time?
But they never found my body, boys
Or understood my mind
I broke broncos with the cowboys
I sang healing songs with the Navajo
I did the snake dance with the Hopi
And I drew pictures everywhere I go
Then I swapped all my drawings for provisions
To get what I needed to get by
And they never found my body, boys
Or understood my mind
Well I hate your crowded cities
With the sad and hopeless mobs
And I hate your grand cathedrals
Where you try to trap God
?Cause I know God is here in the canyons
With the rattlesnakes and the pinon pines
And they never found my body, boys
Or understood my mind
They say I was killed by a drifter
Or I froze to death in the snow
Maybe mauled by a wildcat
Or I?m livin? down in Mexico
But my end, it doesn?t really matter
All that counts is how you live your life
And they never found my body, boys
Or understood my mind
But you give your dreams away as you get older
And oh but I never gave up mine
And they?ll never find my body, boys