Marie’s Place is a series of stories about places and personalities in Northern Colorado and Malawi, from the ’60s through the ’90s. The stories involve people Jim knew, and would like you to know, centering on a friend of the family named Marie, and moving to the country of Malawi, where Jim worked as a Peace Corps volunteer teacher, living on a plateau in the northern part of the country. Included are various happenings in both countries: being nearly blown off a mountain on a backpacking trip in Colorado, and living alone in a cabin in a village called Hahns Peak. The book begins with a near-death experience while Jim was living in Fort Collins, CO, and is accompanied throughout by the laughter of his Pickwickian friends of the Western Slope and the people of Malawi.