The Natural History Society Book Club will meet on Monday, December 15, from 3:30 to 5:00 pm to discuss The Jump-Off Creek, by Molly Gloss.
This is the unforgettable story of widowed homesteader Lydia Sanderson and her struggles to settle in the mountains of Oregon in the 1890s. The Jump-Off Creek gives readers an intimate look at the hardships of frontier life and a courageous woman determined to survive.
For location and directions, contact Wendy at jltnatural@saveland.org
The Natural History Society Book Club will meet on Monday, November 17, from 3:30 to 5:00 pm to discuss Of Men and Mountains: The Classic Memoir of Wilderness Adventure, by William O. Douglas.
William O. Douglas was one of that rare mix of man that helped define America, a judge of the supreme court and also a lifelong outdoorsman. This is his story in his words and conveys the joy he felt for the wild untouched vastness of the great forests and the high snow capped peaks which he pitted himself against.
For location and directions, please RSVP to Wendy at JLTnatural@saveland.org
The Natural History Society Book Club will meet at 3:30 on Monday, October 27, to discuss In Earshot of Water: Notes from the Columbia Plateau, by Paul Lindholdt.
Whether the subject is the plants that grow there, the animals that live there, the rivers that run there, or the people he has known there, Paul Lindholdt’s In Earshot of Water illuminates the Pacific Northwest in vivid detail. Lindholdt writes with the precision of a naturalist, the critical eye of an ecologist, the affection of an apologist, and the self-revelation and self-awareness of a personal essayist in the manner of Annie Dillard, Loren Eiseley, Derrick Jensen, John McPhee, Robert Michael Pyle, and Kathleen Dean Moore.
Exploring both the literal and literary sense of place, with particular emphasis on environmental issues and politics in the Northwest, Lindholdt weds passages from the journals of Lewis and Clark, the log of Captain James Cook, the novelized memoir of Theodore Winthrop, and Bureau of Reclamation records growing from the paintings that the agency commissioned to publicize its dams in the 1960s and 1970s, to tell ecological and personal histories of the region he knows and loves.
In Lindholdt’s beautiful prose, America’s environmental legacies—those inherited from his blood relatives as well as those from the influences of mass culture—and illuminations of the hazards of neglecting nature’s warning signs blur and merge and reemerge in new forms. Themes of fathers and sons layer the book, as well—the narrator as father and as son—interwoven with a call to responsible social activism with appeals to reason and emotion. Like water itself, In Earshot of Water cascades across boundaries and blends genres, at once learned and literary.
RSVP to Chris for location at JLTnatural@saveland.org.
The Natural History Society Book Club will meet at 3:30 on Monday, September 22, to discuss Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness, by Lyanda Lynn Haupt.
There are more crows now than ever. Their abundance is both a sign of ecological imbalance and a generous opportunity to connect with the animal world. Crow Planet is a call to experience the wildlife in our midst, reminding us that we don’t have to head to faraway places to encounter “nature.” Even in the cities and suburbs where we live we are surrounded by wildlife such as crows. Through observing them we enhance our appreciation of the world’s natural order, and find our own place in it.
Haupt, a trained naturalist, uses science, scholarly research, myth, and personal observation to draw readers into the “crow stories” that unfold around us every day, culminating in book that transforms the way we experience our neighborhoods and our world.
Please RSVP to Pat at jltnatural@saveland.org for location.
The Natural History Society Book Club will meet at 3:30 on Monday, August 25, to discuss Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature, by Kathleen Dean Moore.
In an effort to make sense of the deaths in quick succession of several loved ones, Kathleen Dean Moore turned to the comfort of the wild, making a series of solitary excursions into ancient forests, wild rivers, remote deserts, and windswept islands to learn what the environment could teach her in her time of pain.
This book is the record of her experiences. It’s a stunning collection of carefully observed accounts of her life—tracking otters on the beach, cooking breakfast in the desert, canoeing in a snow squall, wading among migrating salmon in the dark—but it is also a profound meditation on the healing power of nature.
Please RSVP to Pat at jltnatural@saveland.org for location.