In this solo episode of Twice 5 Miles Radio, I reflect on my final days in Paris after 40 years of coming and going. I’m sitting in a small studio at 38 Rue Dauphine—a place that’s been a quiet touchstone in my life and a silent witness to the legacy of the Paris literary scene. As I look back, I think about this little apartment and time, memory, and the places we carry with us.

I share stories from 1968 when the world was turning upside down—when I graduated high school the night Robert F. Kennedy was shot. I talk about growing up on Pine Lane in western North Carolina, driving through the dark toward Myrtle Beach, and listening to the news on an old AM radio. I wonder what it means to feel the passing of time—and to feel its presence, too.

You’ll hear a recitation of Dylan Thomas’s Fern Hill, a reading from my book 100 Days: Poems After Cancer, and reflections on how the echoes of the past live inside the present moment. I also talk about my ongoing work with Allegra Huston and the creative path we’ve forged together over the last five years.

This episode is a meditation on home, history, poetry, and the stillness that lives beneath the noise. It’s a way of saying thank you to Paris, Pine Lane, and the community of listeners who’ve made this radio journey possible.

Broadcast on the edge of evening, Rue Dauphine, Pine Lane, and the Eternal Now is my love letter to what’s been, a salute to what is, and a quiet nod toward whatever comes next.

Reflections on Paris, rue Dauphine, Pine Lane, and the Eternal Now with James Navé

Provocative Conversations from Twice 5 Miles Radio is a podcast devoted to candid, often surprising exchanges with artists, thinkers, and cultural instigators who speak from the core. Each episode dives beneath the surface to explore the stories and questions that shape our lives.

I’m James Navé—poet, storyteller, educator, and longtime creative collaborator. With an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and decades of teaching experience across the globe, I help writers and performers tap into their authentic voices through public speaking, creative writing, and the Imaginative Storm method, which I co-developed with Allegra Huston.

My most recent book, 100 Days: A Poetic Memoir After Cancer (3: A Taos Press), documents a hundred days of healing and poetic reckoning. I’m also co-author of Write What You Don’t Know and How to Read for an Audience—practical guides for anyone seeking to speak and write with more truth and power.

I’ve directed festivals, hosted literary salons, taught with Julia Cameron, and memorized over 600 poems. I still believe in the power of a well-told story, the light through stained glass, and the open road with nothing but a podcast and a windshield full of stars.

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