Terry Tempest Williams EROSION Essays of Undoing
Terry Tempest Williams and I met at a conference on Nature writing in Key West, in which Peter Matthiessen and Annie Dillard participated, at least in my memory...though the latter two may have been in other places...it was a great place for the conference, gathering for sunsets each evening, visiting the house of Ernest Hemingway, biking the inlet, still remain in my memory.
This book portrays her ferocity which she makes beautiful in the spirit of the writing and the passion with which she has defended Native Americans and our Great West environment. A collection of essays through time, perhaps inspired by the year she spends at Harvard University, they range from letters to her father, to the death of her husband(mainly)'s dog, and her brother's suicide. She documents protest marches, the naming of historical places, especially one most contested, which Trump has reversed. She tracks the history of monuments. She travels to China and visits the Bai minority women, and like most first time visitors, gets terribly ill. She plays an Activist role, so it got me up to date, as I always defended myself, endangered species. She concludes with the Mariposa grove dedication, and I was privileged to be able to go with the Yosemite Conservancy the year the grove was restored, and experience this whole section of the park. It was wonderful; Yosemite made a deep impression on me. At the same time, I was exploring the life and writings of John Muir, in California, having only known him in Wisconsin. I also taught writing and belonged to the cnvironmental group in colleges and universities who created curriculum, in literature, which would instruct our students in becoming proactive in preserving environments, wildlife, forests, rivers, lakes, birds, butterflies, trees. All have become endangered and TTW tracks that again, for the reader. She writes eloquently and beautifully. I have also read her WHEN WOMEN WERE BIRDS a memoir tribute to her mother and to women which I dearly loved.
I have heard her a few times, at WS Merwin's memorial, and surprizingly, at 6:00 AM, Pacific time, on Sunday mornings, on the Rick Steves' show; he had her as a guest when she wrote her book on National Parks for the centennial year. Her voice is always serious, soulful, and speaks of a person who knows solitude.
Leslie Marmon Silko says, "These essays are a joy to read. Terry Tempest Williams is a wise and fierce defender of the wild Earth". Timothy Egan calls her, "luminous, fearless, brutally honest". ..as well, she knows her way to the human heart". I revert to the book jacket blurbs.
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This book portrays her ferocity which she makes beautiful in the spirit of the writing and the passion with which she has defended Native Americans and our Great West environment. A collection of essays through time, perhaps inspired by the year she spends at Harvard University, they range from letters to her father, to the death of her husband(mainly)'s dog, and her brother's suicide. She documents protest marches, the naming of historical places, especially one most contested, which Trump has reversed. She tracks the history of monuments. She travels to China and visits the Bai minority women, and like most first time visitors, gets terribly ill. She plays an Activist role, so it got me up to date, as I always defended myself, endangered species. She concludes with the Mariposa grove dedication, and I was privileged to be able to go with the Yosemite Conservancy the year the grove was restored, and experience this whole section of the park. It was wonderful; Yosemite made a deep impression on me. At the same time, I was exploring the life and writings of John Muir, in California, having only known him in Wisconsin. I also taught writing and belonged to the cnvironmental group in colleges and universities who created curriculum, in literature, which would instruct our students in becoming proactive in preserving environments, wildlife, forests, rivers, lakes, birds, butterflies, trees. All have become endangered and TTW tracks that again, for the reader. She writes eloquently and beautifully. I have also read her WHEN WOMEN WERE BIRDS a memoir tribute to her mother and to women which I dearly loved.
I have heard her a few times, at WS Merwin's memorial, and surprizingly, at 6:00 AM, Pacific time, on Sunday mornings, on the Rick Steves' show; he had her as a guest when she wrote her book on National Parks for the centennial year. Her voice is always serious, soulful, and speaks of a person who knows solitude.
Leslie Marmon Silko says, "These essays are a joy to read. Terry Tempest Williams is a wise and fierce defender of the wild Earth". Timothy Egan calls her, "luminous, fearless, brutally honest". ..as well, she knows her way to the human heart". I revert to the book jacket blurbs.
There is more to say about this book. Read it. Be converted. I have a friend who has risked her career and won. To save the species, as she sees us as part of those species, if we can save ourselves.
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