About the site...

   I stumbled across the books on this site by accident, after reading a book review of nature essays. Actually, the review was for John Muir, but I couldn't remember the name. On a hunch, I went to the nature section of a used bookstore in Lakewood, Washington, looking for the books that had sounded so interesting. I missed my mark by a mile, and yet I wasn't disappointed with my choice—about 15 volumes from a nature writer called John Burroughs.

   At first, John proved a bit old fashioned to read, and I put him aside, always coming back. I was particularly attracted to his style of recalling his bird observations. I like the way he explored what he had seen throughout his essays. The stories gave his observations a home.

   Then I moved to the University of Iowa, in 2000, and took up an English degree. While studying there, the name of a literature course kept tugging for my attention, a course on author Walt Whitman. I had heard of Whitman before, but couldn't recall where. Then I realized—John Burroughs talked about Whitman frequently in his books. So I took a couple of courses featuring Whitman, and decided I really liked him. Suddenly I also had a way of looking at John Burroughs. I found Whitman throughout Burroughs' books. John may have been consciously imitating Whitman, or he may have just absorbed so much of his friend that he couldn't help but pass along his knowlege. It may be a turn of phrase; sometimes I see it in the concept—but when Burroughs waxes prosy, sometimes I feel Whitman's hand.

   Reading my way through the books has been worthwhile. John has helped me to understand how to embrace the natural in everyday life. He also has given me much to think about, in his comments on modern society, and the relationship of modern people to their environment. Over and over I was stunned by the cutting edge of his observations, about how people act today. This man was a thinker.