Search query: john muir wilderness

Product: Son of the Wilderness: The Life of John Muir
Description: First published in 1945, this biography won the Pulitzer Prize in 1946. Its author worked for twenty-two years on John Muir, including as secretary of the John Muir Association and as editor of Muir’s unpublished papers. She interviewed many family members and people who knew and worked with John Muir to produce this account of Muir’s life. She recounts Muir’s Scottish origins, his early years in the harsh Wisconsin wilderness, his remarkable mechanical aptitude and interest in botany and geology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison where he spent two and a half years before traveling to the Canadian wilderness, and then to California where he spent most of his life.

“[A] well-balanced, informative and rewarding biography.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Into this biography of John Muir, Mrs. Wolfe has packed an amazing amount of factual information which she has illuminated with a sober critical judgment that gives us a convincing portrait of the whole man.” — Francis P. Farquhar, Pacific Historical Review

“Linnie Marsh Wolfe almost singlehandedly restored John Muir to the respectability and stature he always deserved... [Son of the Wilderness] should be on the reference shelves of anyone seriously interested in American environmental history.” — John Opie, Environmental History Review

“[A]n interesting personal biography... [Wolfe] creates Muir as a living personality — mystical but athletic, enthusiastic about nature but socially abrupt — a sort of middle-aged Thoreau.” — Alexander Kern, Journal of American History

“By immersing herself in Muir’s life, for example, by soaking in his correspondence and journals, [Wolfe] was able to craft what amounts to a first-person narrative, the autobiography he never wrote for himself.” — Char Miller, John Muir Newsletter
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Product: The Complete Works of John Muir (Illustrated Edition): Travel Memoirs, Wilderness Essays, Environmental Studies & Letters
Description: This meticulously edited book brings you the complete works of an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, glaciologist and advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States of America, known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks". This exceptional collection is comprised of Muir's travel memoirs, wilderness essays, environmental studies and personal letters.
Contents:
Books
Picturesque California
The Mountains of California
Our National Parks
My First Summer in the Sierra
The Yosemite
Travels in Alaska
Stickeen: The Story of a Dog
The Cruise of the Corwin
A Thousand-mile Walk to the Gulf
Steep Trails
Studies in Sierra
Articles and Speeches
The National Parks and Forest Reservations
Save the Redwoods
Snow-storm on Mount Shasta
Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park
A Rival of the Yosemite
The Treasures of the Yosemite
Yosemite Glaciers
Yosemite in Winter
Yosemite in Spring
Edward Henry Harriman
Edward Taylor Parsons
The Hetch Hetchy Valley
The Grand Cañon of the Colorado
Autobiography
The Story of My Boyhood and Youth
Letters to a Friend
Tribute
Alaska Days With John Muir by Samuel Hall Young
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Product: Steep Trails: A collection of wilderness essays and tales (John Muir: The Eight Wilderness-Discovery Books Book 8)
Description: ‘When a man plants a tree, he plants himself. Every root is an anchor, over which he rests with grateful interest, and becomes sufficiently calm to feel the joy of living.’

Steep Trails encompasses a delightful mix of John Muir's essays and adventure narratives, spanning a period of twenty-nine years. The selections included in this book are varied: ranging from geological studies to stories of the people and towns he encounters throughout his exploits. As Muir expert Terry Gifford observes in the foreword, ‘Most of Steep Trails’ chapters are dispatches from Muir as travelling correspondent with a mixture of insights into local cultures, criticism of pollution and enthusiasm for everything wild.’

Muir’s refreshing philosophy of being ‘at one’ with nature shines through every account he details, as does his agenda for environmental activism – to treat wildness lovingly, rather than selfishly for material greed. Covering mostly the western regions of the states, California, Washington, Nevada, The Grand Canyon, Oregon and Utah; Steep Trails showcases Muir’s passion continuously as he climbs mountains, bathes in lakes, and sketches his findings. Muir’s classic extended metaphors and knowledgeable tone are present throughout, making for both an enjoyable and educational read.

The enthusiasm contained within these pages is infectious, and as well as simply describing the beauty he sees, Muir will inspire you too, to ‘go and see for yourselves’ the rewards of studying the endless gift of nature:

‘Surely faithful and loving skill can go no farther in putting the multitudinous decorated forms on paper. But the colours, the living, rejoicing colours, chanting morning and evening in chorus to heaven! Whose brush or pencil, however lovingly inspired, can give us these? And if paint is of no effect, what hope lies in pen-work? Only this: some may be incited by it to go and see for themselves.’
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Product: Our National Parks: A campaign for the preservation of wilderness (John Muir: The Eight Wilderness-Discovery Books Book 5)
Description: ‘Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away ... God has cared for these trees ... but he cannot save them from fools – only Uncle Sam can do that.’

First published in 1901, Our National Parks is possibly the bestselling book of Muir’s wilderness-discovery titles and was certainly the most influential published in his lifetime, with a strong focus on the preservation of forest reserves.

With a strong political tone and shrewd, subtle manoeuvring, Muir uses Our National Parks to persuade his readership of the necessity of nature and national parks for human recreation and more importantly for health and wellbeing, as well as the – in his mind – obvious need for preservation of wild ecosystems.

Cannily he counterbalances this with the acknowledgement of the need for timber and irrigation systems, in order that his message is taken seriously; Muir’s passion is portrayed so vividly and flamboyantly that without his learned political and scientific reinforcement, he could be misconstrued as purely a radical and eccentric nonconformist. However, the two combined result in an engaging and convincing argument that these landscapes are our ‘natural home’, and ‘fountains of life’.

As Muir expert Terry Gifford observes in the foreword, ‘Muir’s tone can shift in this book from seductive persuasion, to charming details of creatures, flora and landscapes, to scientific information, to trail guide, to religious uplift, to a final political speech of startling ferocity.’

John Muir’s strategic yet genuine and beautiful conservationist essays were a first at the time of publication, and are still highly applicable to our attitudes and lifestyles today in the twenty-first century.
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Product: The Yosemite: John Muir's quest to preserve the wilderness (John Muir: The Eight Wilderness-Discovery Books Book 6)
Description: ‘All these colours, from the blue sky to the yellow valley smoothly blending as they do in a rainbow, making a wall of light ineffably fine.’

Having spent significant time obsessively exploring and learning about the Sierra, John Muir’s passion for and belief in preserving the wilderness steadily grew. He believed that excessive grazing and logging would result in its eventual destruction, and so campaigned to designate the area as a protected national park.

In 1890, the US Congress passed the National Park Bill, and the Yosemite and Sequoia national parks were established. At the time of writing, Muir’s views on conservation of the wilderness were totally radical; today, environmental activists are too often brushed aside in favour of something faster, easier, and cheaper.

Muir not only educates us in the particulars of the botanicals of this spectacular landscape, but also inadvertently traps us in his web of enthusiasm for the beauty and significance of Mother Nature. The Yosemite gives us the tools to construct a detailed mental map of the Sierra, and leaves us with the resolution to be more compassionate and environmentally mindful.

First published in 1912, and with a new introduction from Muir authority Terry Gifford, the message in The Yosemite is perhaps more pertinent now than it ever was. There is a lot to thank Muir for, not least opening our eyes to the earth beneath our feet.
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Product: JOHN MUIR Ultimate Collection: Travel Memoirs, Wilderness Essays, Environmental Studies & Letters (Illustrated): Picturesque California, The Treasures ... Redwoods, The Cruise of the Corwin and more
Description: This carefully crafted ebook: "JOHN MUIR Ultimate Collection: Travel Memoirs, Wilderness Essays, Environmental Studies & Letters (Illustrated)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
Table of Contents:
Picturesque California
The Mountains of California
Our National Parks
My First Summer in the Sierra
The Yosemite
Travels in Alaska
Stickeen: The Story of a Dog
The Cruise of the Corwin
A Thousand-mile Walk to the Gulf
Steep Trails
Studies in the Sierra
Articles and Speeches:
The National Parks and Forest Reservations
Save the Redwoods
Snow-Storm on Mount Shasta
Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park
A Rival of the Yosemite
The Treasures of the Yosemite
Yosemite Glaciers
Yosemite in Winter
Yosemite in Spring
Edward Henry Harriman
Edward Taylor Parsons
The Hetch Hetchy Valley
The Grand Cañon of the Colorado
Autobiographical:
The Story of My Boyhood and Youth
Letters to a Friend
Tribute:
Alaska Days with John Muir by Samuel Hall Young
John Muir (1838-1914) was a Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is a prominent American conservation organization.
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Product: John Muir Trail: South to North edition: The Essential Guide to Hiking America's Most Famous Trail
Description: This is a complete, digital-only South-to-North edition of the best-selling John Muir Trail Lizzy Wenk's authoritative guide describes the 212-mile John Muir Trail, running from the summit of Mt. Whitney to Yosemite Valley. It provides all the necessary planning information, including up-to-date details on wilderness and permit regulations, food resupplies, trailhead amenities, and travel from nearby cities. Useful essentials are updated GPS coordinates and maps for prominent campsites (along with an updated list of sites along the trail), trail junctions, bear boxes, and other points of interest. The trail descriptions also include natural and human history to provide a workout for both body and mind -- a must-have for any Muir Trail enthusiast.
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Product: John Muir: Nature Writings (LOA #92): The Story of My Boyhood and Youth / My First Summer in the Sierra / The Mountains of California / Stickeen / essays (Library of America)
Description: Known as the "Father of the National Parks," John Muir wrote about the American West with unmatched passion and eloquence—as seen in this stunning, one-volume collection
In a lifetime of exploration, writing, and passionate political activism, John Muir became America's most eloquent spokesman for the mystery and majesty of the wilderness. A crucial figure in the creation of our national parks system and a far-seeing prophet of environmental awareness who founded the Sierra Club in 1892, he was also a master of natural description who evoked with unique power and intimacy the untrammeled landscapes of the American West.
Nature Writings collects Muir's most significant and best-loved works in a single volume, including: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth (1913), My First Summer in the Sierra (1911), The Mountains of California (1894) and Stickeen (1909). Rounding out the volume is a rich selection of essays—including "Yosemite Glaciers," "God's First Temples," "Snow-Storm on Mount Shasta," "The American Forests," and "Save the Redwoods"—that highlight various aspects of his career: his exploration of the Grand Canyon and of what became Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks, his successful crusades to preserve the wilderness, his early walking tour to Florida, and the Alaska journey of 1879.
LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.
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Product: John Muir Trail: The Essential Guide to Hiking America's Most Famous Trail
Description: Lizzy Wenk's authoritative guide John Muir Trail describes the 212-mile trail, running from Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mt. Whitney. It provides all necessary planning information, including up-to-date details on wilderness and permit regulations, food resupplies, trailhead amenities, and travel from nearby cities. Useful essentials are updated GPS coordinates and maps for prominent campsites (along with an updated list of sites along the trail), trail junctions, bear boxes, and other points of interest. The trail descriptions also include natural and human history to provide a workout for both body and mind -- a must-have for any Muir Trail enthusiast. Note that the text includes the southbound trail description, while the full guide with the northbound description is available as a separate ebook product.
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Product: Wilderness Essays
Description: Part of John Muir's appeal to modern readers is that he not only explored the American West and wrote about its beauties but also fought for their preservation. His successes dot the landscape and are evident in all the natural features that bear his name: forests, lakes, trails, and glaciers. Here collected are some of Muir's finest wilderness essays, ranging in subject matter from Alaska to Yellowstone, from Oregon to the High Sierra.

This book is part of a series that celebrates the tradition of literary naturalists—writers who embrace the natural world as the setting for some of our most euphoric and serious experiences. These books map the intimate connections between the human and the natural world. Literary naturalists transcend political boundaries, social concerns, and historical milieus; they speak for what Henry Beston called the “other nations” of the planet. Their message acquires more weight and urgency as wild places become increasingly scarce.
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Product: My First Summer In The Sierra: Illustrated Edition
Description: From the photographer who brought Thoreau's Walden and Cape Cod to life comes a new work combining classic literature with brand-new photography. This time, Scot Miller takes on the seminal work of John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra. The book details Muir's first extended trip to the Sierra Nevada in what is now Yosemite National Park, a landscape that entranced him immediately and had a profound effect on his life. The towering waterfalls, natural rock formations, and abundant plant and animal life helped Muir develop his views of the natural world, views that would eventually lead him to push for the creation of the national parks.

My First Summer in the Sierra is illustrated with Miller's stunning photographs, showcasing the dramatic landscape of the High Sierra plus John Muir's illustrations from the original edition and several previously unpublished illustrations from his 1911 manuscript. The publication of My First Summer in the Sierra inspired many to journey there, and this newly illustrated edition will surely inspire many more.

This book is being published in collaboration with Yosemite Conservancy and, for each copy sold, Scot Miller is making a donation to Yosemite Conservancy. My First Summer in the Sierra won the National Outdoor Book Award.
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Product: The Wilderness Journeys (Canongate Classics Book 67)
Description: Five works by the naturalist considered the father of the modern conservation movement, documenting the unspoiled beauty of nineteenth-century America.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. —John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra

The name of John Muir has come to stand for the protection of wild land and wilderness in both America and Britain. Born in Scotland in 1838, Muir is famed as the father of American conservation and the founder of the Sierra Club. This collection, including the rarely seen Stickeen, presents the finest of Muir’s writings, painting a portrait of a man whose generosity, passion, and vision are an inspiration to this day.

Combining acute observation, amusing anecdotes, and a sense of inner discovery, Muir’s writings of his travels though some of the greatest landscapes on Earth, including the Carolinas, Florida, Alaska, and those lands that were to become the great National Parks of Yosemite and the Sierra Valley, raise an awareness of nature to a spiritual dimension.

Includes an introduction by Graham White
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Product: Meditations of John Muir: Nature's Temple (Meditations (Wilderness))
Description: Editor Chris Highland pairs 60 insightful Muir quotes with selections from other celebrated thinkers and spiritual texts. Take this pocket-size guide with you on backpacks, nature hikes, and camping trips.
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