Muir of the Mountains

by William O. Douglas

( adapted from the book's dust jacket )

Muir of the Mountains
by William O. Douglas
Illustrations by Daniel San Souci.
1994
Sierra Club Books
Originally published: Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1961
Includes Index
Original text copyright 1961 by the estate of William O. Douglas.
Abridged text copyright 1994 by Sierra Club Books.
Illustrations copyright 1994 by Daniel San Souci

Out of Print.

Reissued in 1994 in a handsome commemorative volume to celebrate the Sierra Club's centennial, William O. Douglas's classic children's biography of John Muir reveals the events and ideas that shaped America's pioneer conservationist and founder of the Sierra Club. Illustrated with superb new drawing by Daniel San Souci, this slightly abridged edition is tailored especially for today's young audience. It is unfortunately out of print, but used copies are widely available.

Interweaving Muir's own dramatic accounts of his adventures and his observations on the natural world, Douglas offers fascinating glimpses of Muir's boyhood in Scotland; his awakening love of nature; the family's move to the United States to carve a farm out of the Wisconsin backwoods; and Muir's budding career as an inventor and botanist. Muir of the Mountains also recaptures the excitement of his thousand-mile walk from Louisville, Kentucky, to the Gulf of Mexico; his first visit to the majestic Sierra Nevada of California; and his travels across a deeply crevassed glacier in Alaska with only a brave little dog named Stickeen as company.

Muir's adventures make for thrilling reading -- and with the reissue of this classic biography, his exciting, purposeful life will inspire a new generation of young readers.

About the Author

Adult will be interested in this book because the author was the notable U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas (1898-1980). He served on the Supreme Court for more than thirty-six years (1939-1975), the longest term of any justice, even now as of the year 2019. Douglas was also a prominent naturalist, world traveler, and author, Douglas wrote seventeen books, including many on nature and conservation. He also engaged in several important land preservation efforts, and prior to serving in the Supreme Court, served on the Board of Directors of the Sierra Club . His most famous judicial opinion was probably his his dissenting opinion (meaning the majority disagreed) in the landmark environmental law case,Â Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727 (1972), where Justice Douglas argued that "trees should have standing" to sue in court, with environmenetal groups serving as their "guardians." The idea has outlasted the case, and has been adopted in other countries.

About the Illustrator

Daniel San Souci, a resident of Oakland, California, has illustrated more than thirty books for young readers, including North County Night (which he also wrote) and The Golden Deer , retold by Margaret Hodges. He is an active lecturer and teaches a class in children's book illustration at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco.

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