Nature Literature discussion

Please add your comments about An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field here.

Thanks,
Becky

I got my copy of this book because it popped up as I searched for another of her books on an online used book site. It was less than five dollars with no shipping.

She includes several reference to Coyote, both the animal and the the trickster figure from Native American folklore, but my favorite of the essays is the one about Mardy Murie who was very much a mentor to Terry Tempest Williams.
I read this and two of her other books at about the same time. Coyote's Canyon and Pieces of White Shell.

Early on she presents the story that perhaps the artist, Georgia O'keffe made a deal with Coyote to send her regularly inspiration. She used the story to consolidate a presentation which ended with her howling like a coyote. I picture Williams as howling often.. Her stories of Coyote clan inspire me.

I read Unspoken Hunger 20 years ago, when living in Utah. I still have it, but it’s at my office and I’m currently traveling, but I remember liking the book.

You comments about coyote remind me of an interesting book I recently read by John Lane, “Coyote Settles the South” I learned a lot about coyotes reading it.

Jeff wrote: "I read Unspoken Hunger 20 years ago, when living in Utah. I still have it, but it’s at my office and I’m currently traveling, but I remember liking the book.

You comments about coyote remind me of..."
This book is quite different from her mor recent works such as Erosion and The Hour of Land. Her older works are reminescent of Gary Snyder's Turtle Island, expressing a philosophy that reveres nature and puts animals and even rivers on an equal footing with humans.
In some respects, these works might be forerunners of the thinking of Captain Paul Wtson, founder of the Sea Shepherd organization which he expresses this as biocentrism.
Snyder said that his book Turtle Island stood as a contrast to the anthropocentrism of New Age beliefs. I think Williams might say the same about her works. She once said that she grew up Mormon only to realize that she is a transcendentalist.
In any case, this book is well worth a read, along her other early book Coyote's Canyon. I would also include the stunning collection of trickster talse by Barry Lopez. The trickster is an essential persona in ecocentric thinking.

This book is about different ways of being in the world, different ways of seeing.

In Chapter one we meet a native guide with sharpened sense and the ability to see what others miss.

In Chapter Two we meet a grandmother who served as mentor. It is less about the seashells than her way of seeing them.

Chapter 3 is a lovely portrayal of Georgia O'Keefe. Williams apparently conversed with several people who knew her well.
In chapter 4 we meet the author's uncle, her mother's brother, who lameted that people did not see him for who he was. Within our society, this is a common issue for people of differing abilities. I can't speak of other societies.

Thanks to this club, I've read a Terry Tempest Williams book. I don't recall that I've ever read her work before. I can't believe it.

First of all, it brought me back in time. Published in 1994 when Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Abbey, and Coyote were household words for many of us.

I'm glad I hadn't read the Georgia O'Keeffe story until today. By now we know not only the strange beauty of O'Keeffe's art but also the darker side of the artist. I like all the elements Williams brought together here. I know very little about Williams' Mormon background, but it was interesting that she brought the Mormon group into this Texan canyon and had a bazaar fireside experience with them.

The story of Williams's developmental delay (DD)uncle completely resonated with me. In the near past, I became a guardian and conservator of my DD uncle over the last four years of his life. He was an amazing man. Despite his numerous life challenges, his strong life force and foxiness prevailed. This might sound off, but it was right on the mark, a mentor of his said he was, "dumb like a fox." In other words, he had DD but he lived on his own for decades after his mother passed away, yet he thrived with a community of support he built around himself. He too was institutionalized a few times as a child and young man in the 1950-1960s. I searched for his records in our state historical society. Many of the places he stayed and the social service agencies that oversaw his disability status, mysteriously burnt down, and his records are up in smoke. This and this information I've gathered from current DD professionals doesn't bode well to how he was treated in his youth.

My favorite story in the book is the eulogy of Edward Abbey. It is poignant and beautiful and carries good mottos to live by today. Think about how this has changed in the present, "I believe Ed knew and understood the art, the practice, of keeping in touch. The simple act of correspondence." Now we are less likely to send postcards throughout our lifetime (I have four artist print cards on my table now that I'll be mailing out to people soon). Think of cards and social media and keeping in touch now. I can feel the difference. Snailmail cards are always feel-good to me. Social media contact, while it can be good, is laced with anxiety, to me.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It brought me down a memory lane of my own culture 25-years-ago when she wrote this, and it made me realize environmental changes and knowledge I have witnessed and gained over the past few decades to the present day, living in this pandemic.

Julie wrote: "Thanks to this club, I've read a Terry Tempest Williams book. I don't recall that I've ever read her work before. I can't believe it.

First of all, it brought me back in time. Published in 1994 wh..."

I too enjoyed the memorial to Deward Abbey. His writing is foundational for nature literature, although he is out of favor with the ecofeminists.

My favorite chapter though is the one on Mardy Murie. She was a mentor to Williams and many other conservationists.

Ray wrote: "Julie wrote: "Thanks to this club, I've read a Terry Tempest Williams book. I don't recall that I've ever read her work before. I can't believe it.

First of all, it brought me back in time. Publis..."

I'm a conservationist who started in the 1980s as a forest and wilderness protection advocate. I huge fan of Edward Abbey's writing and the role he played in inspiring so many--including me. But I want to expand on the idea that it is "ecofeminists" who have a problem with Abbey's legacy.

Abbey espoused very sexist ideals and racist ones as well. I read some of his writings today and cringe. This fact needs to be accepted, for the same reason that the Sierra Club recently went public with a condemnation of the similar views of their inspiration, John Muir.

As a woman who became active in the wilderness protection movement in my 20s, Abbey's sexist legacy influenced the culture of the movement in negative ways. I did not realize the extent of it until a decade later, when I found myself working on another conservation cause, one that was a much more even playing field.

I know so many talented, amazing women who left wilderness and environmental work because of the sexist culture. And the cause has suffered. So sad. I've tried to work hard to support young women getting involved.

I applaud The Sierra Club for recently publicly denouncing John Muir's racist legacy. Yes, I've loved Muir's books and what he contributed to the conservation cause, but it is time to quit dismissing the ugly sides of people who have helped define the environmental movement. Racism and sexism are serious concerns in conservation organizations. It's great to see these issues being acknowledged.

I highly recommend Desert Cabal: A New Season in the Wilderness written by Amy Irvine. A short book of essays based on Amy drinking a bottle in Ed's honor at his undisclosed grave, thanking him for his inspiration but calling him out on his failings as well. It really resonated!

I plan to start my reread of An Unspoken Hunger this week-end. TTW was also a huge inspiration for me and I've read all her books save her most recent one, Erosion, which is sitting on my dresser!

And yes to Mardi Muri! What an inspiration. I have her Alaska book on my shelf and hope to read her!

And I realize after writing this, that I went on to only focus on the sexist problems with the movement. I'm a cis white woman. So as a P.S., there were very few POC's involved in the wilderness/public lands causes when I started. And I knew of only one gay activist. It was not a welcoming places. The world has improved, including so much more leadership from indigenous leaders. But so much work still do be done.

Sam wrote: "And I realize after writing this, that I went on to only focus on the sexist problems with the movement. I'm a cis white woman. So as a P.S., there were very few POC's involved in the wilderness/pu..."

There are some changes moving forward, baby steps, but changes nevertheless.
Here is a link to J. Drew Lanham's 9 rules for the Black Birdwatcher as published in Orion. https://orionmagazine.org/article/9-r...
Our group read his memoir, The Home Place, a while back and I have read his book of poems, Sparrow Envy

This article is a report from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology on Black Birder's week https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/5-...

And another from Orion titled Dear Mr. Abbey, which you may have already mentioned. https://orionmagazine.org/article/dea...

A while back, this group read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kemmerer, a member of the Citizen Potowatomi Tribe Here is a link to one of her articles published in Orion https://orionmagazine.org/article/rob...

Other than those pieces, I would recommend any of the works by US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, a member of the Muskogee Creek Nation

Sam wrote: "Ray wrote: "Julie wrote: "Thanks to this club, I've read a Terry Tempest Williams book. I don't recall that I've ever read her work before. I can't believe it.

First of all, it brought me back in ..."

Thank you for saying all this, Sam. As a woman in the conservation field, I completely agree! I thoroughly appreciated Amy Irvine's piece on Abbey in High Country News and look forward to reading Desert Cabal.

Ray wrote: "Sam wrote: "And I realize after writing this, that I went on to only focus on the sexist problems with the movement. I'm a cis white woman. So as a P.S., there were very few POC's involved in the w..."

Ray, I would like to think that if things are changing, as you say, it would not just be the "ecofeminists" who can acknowledge the harm in Abbey's ideals. I think that statement came across a bit dismissively. We can still read and appreciate Abbey while being critical of his writing and discussing how his attitudes perpetuated exclusion in the outdoors.

Cara wrote: "Sam wrote: "Ray wrote: "Julie wrote: "Thanks to this club, I've read a Terry Tempest Williams book. I don't recall that I've ever read her work before. I can't believe it.

First of all, it brought..."

I agree that we and read Abby as a great writer and at the same time recognize that his lifestyle was problematic. So long as there are people willing to make both points and not one or the other our society can remain whole while moving toward a place of greater justice.

I'm not sure why you put the word ecofeminist in quotations. It is a rather large and well reognized movement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecofemi...

This group’s discussions have some wild leaps and fluctuations! Part of what I liked about the Abbey eulogy, was the simple touching communication of regular postcards. Now, a worldwide conversation can fling itself anywhere.

But since we’ve jumped to ecofeminism, was Abbey a jerk? Yes. Was O’Keefe a jerk? Yes. It’s simply that An Unspoken Hunger was written in a time that triggers memories from the past yet still within some of our lifetimes.

There was rare equity in the environmental movement, in science, in every aspect of USA culture and society when TTW wrote this book, and it's still the case in present day.

Julie wrote: "This group’s discussions have some wild leaps and fluctuations! Part of what I liked about the Abbey eulogy, was the simple touching communication of regular postcards. Now, a worldwide conversatio..."

Williams is a great author. I highly recommend her book Erosion
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

I'm a big fan of Abbey's writing--have most of his books and regularly reread The Journey Home and Down the River. I work on taking dams out to restore rivers and fish--so The Monkey Wrench Gang has a special place in my heart! And love TTW--have had the pleasure of meeting her several times over the years. I just wanted to respectfully expand on the comment that ecofeminists had issues with Abbey. Lots of folks had issues with Abbey.

I thought it was a relevant issue to bring up considering the headlines a couple weeks ago of the Sierra Club calling out their founder John Muir. Well done.

And yes, it existed--exists--everywhere. But as a young woman, it felt particularly heartbreaking and difficult to navigate in the environmental movement, where I naively expected better than the redneck timber town I grew up in. It was very hard to call activist men out on it--because so many perceived themselves as "evolved." God forbid you carefully point out their sexist of racist actions. I eventually left environmental organizations to work for a statewide hunting/fish group--a bunch of redneck guys in support of taking dams out and protecting public lands--and it was a breath of fresh air!! So unexpected. I could say to them--no, not cool to comment on my legs when I walk into a board meeting--and they would say "You're right! Sorry! Won't happen again". Because they acknowledged they were sexist good ol' boys in a way that male environmental activists would not. Most important--it was the first time that my gender did not factor into what I was paid. In the wilderness/public lands movement? Nearly every time.

I'm finding it refreshing to see the environmental movement finally grapple with it's heroes, and realize that it is stronger with an inclusive tent. Here in the U.S. West we need indigenous and latino leaders in our movement, as an example. And to grow and have more people feel welcomed, we need to call out the racism of Abbey and others, and acknowledge it when we are reading books that are near and dear to our heart.

I haven't run into TTW in a number of years now, but I bet she agrees. especially with the growing power of Native American Tribes who are working hard to protect places near and dear to her heart.

Sam wrote: "I'm a big fan of Abbey's writing--have most of his books and regularly reread The Journey Home and Down the River. I work on taking dams out to restore rivers and fish--so The Monkey Wrench Gang ha..."

So your attitudes are shaped by experience, as is true for all of us, including me. I don't think I can speak of my experiences and how they shaped me since I am perceived as a person of privelege - though I would say the perception is incorrect. Class discrimination is more subtle but just as real.

In any case, I apologize for any offense given or perceived. Abby is a great writer and he said some unacceptable things. I have heard some people trash him for the unacceptable things he said, and and not want to admit to his importance or the quality of his craft. That is a kind of ignorance too, one I watch for and try not to engage. My comments are sometimes guarded for a reason. There are a lot of angry people in the world and I have encountered my share of them. Some days I would say more than my share of them. By the way, when Earth First! was forming up, Abbey was involved - at least on the periphery - and he wnated it to be named "Rednecks for Wilderness." His origins were Appalachian.

I have read this book and nominated it for book of the month at least once. I would like to see us read it. The author is an incredibly knowledeable botanist and ecologist and she grew up in a Junkyard.
Here parents stripped parts from old cars and sold them to people who didn't want to buy new parts. They rebuilt and sold engines from the cars. The family lived in a house literarally situated in the center of the junkyard. One edition features her picture on the cover. It is a childhood photo of her sitting on a gocart that she and her sister built from parts.
I din't grow up quite that poor, but I have great admiration for anyone who rose from such humble beginnings.
https://www.goodreadsb.com/book/show/...

Ray wrote: "Sam wrote: "I'm a big fan of Abbey's writing--have most of his books and regularly reread The Journey Home and Down the River. I work on taking dams out to restore rivers and fish--so The Monkey Wr..."

Ray--I wasn't offended at all! I was just expanding the conversation. I did not meet Abbey--but I knew Dave Foreman and others who started Earth First! I still have my EF t-shirts! I got involved in activism from growing up in a timber town and watching so many special places mowed down by Weyerhaueser and Georgia-Pacific to the detriment of my community. What I liked about the founders and early leading activists was that they came from middle-class backgrounds and communities that had suffered the impacts of corporate logging, mining, extractive activities. As much as I was grateful for the people who put themselves on the line sitting in trees and blocking roads to save forests, I ended up focusing my work on reaching out to people on the sidelines or opposed--my skill is connecting with people and bringing folks along. Or, as a jokingly say, channeling my inner redneck.

I'm in my 50s now, mentoring younger folks coming up in the cause, including young women. And that's one reason I bring these issues up.

And also--literature was so important in bringing me along on the path--esp. because I grew up in a rural timber town. Abbey's books, Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner, Craig Lesley's Winterkill (the scene of Celilo Falls being drowned by Dalles dam is one reason I work on dam removal today), made me an activist. Literature is important and inspires new activists. Which is why I call out some of my old faves and heroes.

Appreciate the dialogue Ray, and that you've been contributing to this thread!

Sam wrote: "Ray wrote: "Sam wrote: "I'm a big fan of Abbey's writing--have most of his books and regularly reread The Journey Home and Down the River. I work on taking dams out to restore rivers and fish--so T..."

I likewise appreciate your comments. For my own part, I spent the first 15 years of my life within a mile of an unrecalimed strip mine and within five miles of an oil refinery. At nearly 70 years of age I well remember those days. My environemtnealism comes from a genuine place. I can't claim to have met any of the famous environemntalists though.

The Essay title Water Songs is impressive in its story of how her mind was opened to an urban wetalnd. Cities are not often thought of as refuges for wildlife, yet I have dones some of my best nature photography within the city limits of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Here is an example.
https://www.rayzimmermanauthor.com/th...
Can we bear the thought of appreciating urban wilds?

Yes! Ray, I can. I appreciate every plant 🌱 busting through concrete or tarmac. Nature constantly shows 🕸 us that she knows 🌳 what she’s doing. 💨 She’s focused on 🐝 diversity ☯️ and change 🍄 and powerful 🦋 beauty. 🌇

Indeed

one essay reminds me of the book The Sacred Paw: Bears in Nature, Myth, and Literature.

This was a great book the first time through. Even better on the second. Yesterday I visited The Tennessee RiverPark, all within the city limits. I did not see a Black Crowned Night Heron as Willams did in the Urban park described in the Water Songs essay, but seven Osprey fished the Tennessee River below Chickamauga Dam. Great Blue Herons seemed to almost pose for photographs.

A few Passages I highlighted in the first essay:

The Mara belongs to the Maasai or the Maasai to the Mara. The umbilical cord between man and earth has not been severed here. The Maasai pasture their cattle next to leopard and lion. They know the songs of grasses and the script of snakes. They move like thin shadows across the savannah. A warrior with a red cloak draped over his shoulder stands silhouetted against the sun. Beefeaters, blood-drinkers, the Maasai are one of the last strongholds of nomadic life.

When traveling to new country, it is a gift to have a guide.
The burden of a newcomer is to pay attention.

Samuel gives away his knowledge sparingly—in gentle, quiet doses. He is respectful of his teachers and those he is teaching. In this way he is generous. He gives me the pleasure of discovery. Slowly, African riddles unravel themselves like a piece of cut linen.

Ray Zimmerman