Eco-Philosophy, Deep Ecology

In 2007, when a new edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary widely used in schools around the world was published, a sharp-eyed reader soon noticed that around forty common words concerning nature had been dropped. Apparently they were no longer being used enough by children to merit their place in the dictionary.

On a winter day in 2013, Tom Haines stood in front of his basement furnace and wondered about the source of the natural gas that fueled his insulated life.

He watched mountains from a small room perched 70 feet above the Gila Wilderness. He learned these things. Gigantic skies. The deep silence. The trigonometry of fire watching. Bears making strange night noises. Eagles, vultures, hummingbirds. Infinite stars flowering in the garden of the night sky. Moon mysteries. Lightening. Thunder.

David Gessner had always known of John Hay. A nature writing legend, Hay was a hero to the younger writer. But it wasn't until Gessner returned to his childhood home on Cape Cod that he befriended the older man. At first, Gessner thought he might write Hay's biography.

Selections from one of the great classics of literature--now part of the Shambhala Pocket Library.