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Naturalist to read Friday at City Lights
Our Cafe summer reading series continues this week with a new book from seasonal Balsam resident Ken Morrison.
Released in celebration of all the Earth Days held since 1970, “The Tonic of Wildness” is a collection of essays chronicling Morrison’s observation of the world around him. Its subtitle, “An eminent naturalist uses humor and insight to reveal nature’s healing power,” turns out to be a pretty accurate description.
Morrison, who will read and sign books during a 7:30 p.m. event at City Lights this Friday night, Aug, 11, certainly qualifies as an “eminent naturalist.” He was editor of Audubon Magazine for 10 years and then directed the Historic Bok Sanctuary, site of the famous Bok Singing Towers at Lake Wales, Fla. Known as an environmental pioneer, he has spent some 50 years at the forefront of the conservation movement in Florida. And his writings offer lots of insight along with a humorous approach to the antics of the various animals he observes.
“The Tonic of Wildness,” illustrated by nature artist Diane Pierce, is Morrison’s third book. His last one, “Mountain Lake Almanac – Around the Year with a Naturalist,” featured many observations in Jackson County and Western North Carolina. Local flora and fauna rate a lot of space in “The Tonic of Wildness” as well, since Morrison has spent his summers in the mountains for some 25 years.
The book has been generally well received and is generating positive comment.
“If there’s an environmental issue or a wildlife question you’ve thought of, Morrison has something to contribute to the discussion,” one reviewer said. “The combination is a package that is as valuable as it is affordable.”
Morrison’s essays range from his thoughts on the importance of retaining natural areas during development to his musings while watching a white-footed mouse scurry across his Balsam deck rail. The common thread that ties the book together is Morrison’s obvious love and appreciation of the natural world that surrounds him.
Morrison’s commitment to the environment runs deep and is apparent throughout “The Tonic of Wildness.” He opens one piece with the observation that nude dancing and other displays of public nudity are typically considered “obscene.” He then proceeds to wonder why natural areas slashed by bulldozers and stripped of their vegetative “clothing” (nude landscapes) are not perceived as equally obscene:
“One time, I was driving peacefully down a highway when suddenly I was confronted with a disgusting display of nudity. Every stitch of clothing (vegetation) had been removed from dozens of acres. The stripped land was exposed to the public gaze, and it was an indecent sight.”
He goes on to lament a definition he once heard of a subdivision – “a place where they cut down all the trees and name the streets after them.”
After making his point, Morrison then advocates less landscape disruption and the preservation of natural features during housing construction. He points out that developers would likely see economic benefits if they would maintain trees and create walking paths as they design neighborhoods.
A good example of Morrison’s serendipitous approach to nature is his story of a mid-September afternoon spent along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The trip’s purpose was to look for hawks, but he was sidetracked by the discovery of surprising clusters of still-juicy blueberries weeks after he had picked the ripe fruit in early August.
During the course of the book’s 166 pages, Morrison offers a few practical tips for global salvation, including an account of his son Steve’s “green” driving habits – an older-model Mercedes that Steve operates exclusively on used vegetable oil he obtains from restaurants near his Florida home. The book closes with a list of national conservation organizations and their addresses.
The book’s short pieces seem to lend themselves to summertime reading – outdoors, of course.
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