author and scholar

BOOKS and WRITINGS

Mick established his own publishing company, Westsong Publishing, and authored a number of books, including The Napa Valley Book, Cuba for the Misinformed, Peak Oil Prep, Sustainable Living, and Scan Me: Everybody’s Guide to the Magical World of QR Codes.

innovator

MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

Always ahead of the times, Mick was one of the first in the Valley to grasp the value of the Internet. One of the original contributors to the WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link), a pioneering virtual community founded in 1985, he later collaborated with local educators and school districts to establish NapaNet, then a nonprofit dedicated to connecting local schools to the World Wide Web.

He wrote about QR codes and would go on to earn a Masters degree in Creative Media, with distinction, from the University of Brighton in the United Kingdom. At the urging of his thesis adviser at Brighton, Tara Brabazon, Mick applied to the PhD program in the School of Humanities and Creative Arts at Flinders University in Australia and eventually received his Ph.D.

travel writings and photographs

PLACES

Mick lived and traveled all around the world from Viet Nam and Germany while in the military to Canada where he lived for ten years, with a month-long stay in Cuba, and visits to Mexico, Panama, and France. He continuously searched for places to live outside the US. He created a website called Boomers Abroad where he and others shared information about living in foreign countries while he made his home in the Napa Valley.
Napa
Cuba
Todos Santos
Panama

peak oil

SUSTAINABILITY
Mick’s interests and intellectual passions were widespread. He addressed sweeping global topics like climate change and the United States foreign policy in his books on Peak Oil and Cuba. But he also focused on the importance of grassroots organizing for improved public services, local neighborhood associations and building community on an intensely personal level.

sleep well

WELLNESS

Mick shared his remedies for two ailments that also afflicted him, leg cramps and insomnia. For many years, his tips on Insomnia topped search results on the topic. 

Selected text from Mick Winter's "Insomnia Tips" was set to music by composer Beata Moon. Her choral piece was premiered in New York by Cantori New York on November 1, 2008. Listen here.

Enjoy Mick's five minute relaxation audio. 
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Or take a moment to pause. 
Picture
Thanks to Randall Munroe, www.xkcd.com