Sierra Club Book Club: A Passion For Nature

From the Sierra Club –

We will be discussing the biography of John Muir who started the Sierra Club and was a fascinating figure in environmental history. The book I read was “A Passion for Nature The Life of John Muir” by Donald Worster. You are welcome to read any biography on John Muir if you’d like.

Here’s an excerpt from Amazon.com about this book:

“In Donald Worster’s magisterial biography, John Muir’s “special self” is fully explored as is his extraordinary ability, then and now, to get others to see the sacred beauty of the natural world. A Passion for Nature is the most complete account of the great conservationist and founder of the Sierra Club ever written. It is the first to be based on Muir’s full private correspondence and to meet modern scholarly standards. Yet it is also full of rich detail and personal anecdote, uncovering the complex inner life behind the legend of the solitary mountain man.”

Our next book for March is “Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water” by Marc Reisner, which has been a great read to learn about how we have engineered our water ways to allow us to grow large metropolises in the desert (Las Angeles, Phoenix etc) and all of the crazy bureaucracy behind it. (There’s also a 4 part doc series on youtube about the book as well)

Then April’s book is a lighter read called “Second Nature” by Michael Pollan. It’s a book on gardening and our place in the natural world. It’s very well reviewed. He’s a great author and I’ve read most of his books and he’s never let me down. May’s book is TBD, feel free to suggest something in the comments and if you like someone’s suggestion, then click the “like” button next to their comment.