The Orchid Thief

It is the fundamental contradictoriness of the United States of America- the illogical but optimistic notion that you can create a union of individuals in which every man is king.

Everyone I was meeting connected to the orchid poaching had circled their lives around some great desire- Laroche had his crazy inspirations and orchid lovers had their intense devotion to their flowers and the Seminoles had their burning dedication to their history and culture- a desire that then answered questions for them about how to spend their time and their money and who their friends would be and where they would travel and what they did when they got there. it was religion. I wanted to want something as much as people wanted these plants, but it isn't part of my constitution.