Paul Stamets at Telluride Shroomfest, 8/18 – 8/21

17 Aug Paul Stamets at Telluride Shroomfest, 8/18 – 8/21

[click “Play” to hear Susan’s conversation with Paul Stamets]

Editor’s note: Don’t miss mushroom cook-off at the Wilkinson Public Library. Starts noon today and feaures Blakely Stein, executive chef, J.B.& Me; Jesse Mirman, executive chef, Honga’s; Lewis Williams & Lucas Price, chef/owner La Cocina De Luz; and Benjamin Steendlik, reigning Champion Mushroom Chef. Which of them will be Grand Master of the Mushroom Parade on Saturday?

Looking for a glimmer of hope in the world? Look down. We are talking about mycelium and their fruit, mushrooms. Fungi are the stars of the Telluride Shroomfest, Thursday, August 18 – Sunday, August 21– and maybe the planet. Just ask guest speaker Paul Stamets.

Shroomfest attendees have several chances to hear Paul in action: he is scheduled to speak at three of the seven “tracks” – Entheogens, Medicinal and Remediation – on subjects ranging from “Magic Mushrooms, the Merry Pranksters and Medicinal Mushrooms for the Soul” to “Myco-Restoration, Myco-Remediation, Myco-Filtration and Myco-Insecticides: Using Mycelium for Human and Habitat Health.”

Paul Stamets is a visionary emissary of the Kingdom of Fungi and a man with a plan. But this seer is unafraid to get his hands dirty every single day. What’s Paul all about? For starters, working with Mother Nature to heal nature and mankind.

Paul has been a dedicated mycologist for over 30 years during which time he discovered and co-authored four new species of mushrooms and pioneered countless techniques in the field of edible and medicinal mushroom cultivation.

Paul Stamets must have to do a whole lot of dusting off of shelves: he holds nearly as many awards as Lizard Head holds mushrooms after a rainy June and July, including Bioneers, Green-Novator (from National Geographic), “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the World” (Utne Reader, 2008) and the President’s Award (Society for Ecological Restoration, 2010). He is also the author of six books on cultivation and identification, including “The Mushroom Cultivator,” considered the definitive text on the subject, and “Mycellium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World.”

To learn more about the man and to preview his Shroomfest talks, click the play button and listen to our interview.