the john muir exhibit - bibliographic_resources - press_releases - heart of john muir's world
The Heart of John Muir's World:
Wisconsin, Family, and Wilderness Discovery
(
from the publisher's press release
)
The Heart of John Muir's World:
Wisconsin, Family, and Wilderness Discovery
by Millie Stanley
1995 February 1
Prairie Oak Press
320 pages, 18 illustrations, 6 X 9 inches
ISBN 1-879483-22-X
LC 94-32445
$16.95 quality paperback
In this new, original, and refreshing work,
Millie Stanley shows John Muir in a context in
which he has rarely been seen or appreciated
- that of loyal and devoted friend and family
member. The outlook, the activities, the very
ethic of Muir - wanderer in the wilderness,
pioneer ecologist, explorer, writer,
discoverer, scientist, environmental lobbyist,
father of the national park system - are
shown to have been formed by close human
relationships throughout his long and
productive career. Here, Stanley follows that
career in a way no one ever has before, giving
us a new and deeper understanding of
America's great conservationist.
Readers, upon learning much more about the
people who knew Muir and who touched his
life, will at the same time gain a heightened
appreciation of life in Wisconsin in pioneer days.
For this work, Stanley utilized hundreds of
Muir family letters housed at the
University of the Pacific
, in Stockton, California. This
correspondence sheds new light on Muir's
nature and that of his parents, Anne and Daniel
Muir, and his siblings. Many of John's letters
display the exquisite prose for which he
became noted in his published works. Muir's
correspondence with his family continued for
his entire life and now provides deepening
insight into his life and work. the interest
in his experiences and well-being expressed
by family and friends sustained him through
long absences from those he loved.
Stanley's narrative expands greatly on the
early
Wisconsin
influences that helped shape
Muir's character. It tells of his youthful
years on Fountain Lake and Hickory Hill farms
and shows that his early experiences set the
tone for his later accomplishments on the
national scene. It was in Marquette County,
Wisconsin, in 1864, that Muir attempted to
preserve a bit of Fountain Lake land for its
beauty alone. That was the seed that grew
into his major contribution to the formation
of the national park system. Stanley
continues to follow Muir as he lived, worked,
and studied across the country, culminating
in 46 richly productive years in
California
.
"This is not only a rich story of one of our
country's greatest and noblest - it is a
telling collection of intimate thoughts and
details of daily living in the pioneer period of
Wisconsin and the Midwest, with all its
beauty, hardship and freedom. I am impressed
by this book's energy and sensitivity, and by
the breadth and depth of its investigation."
-- Gwen Schultz, author of
Wisconsin's Foundations.
Millie Stanley has lived and worked for
more than twenty years in Muir Country, in
Marquette County, Wisconsin. Her work,
incorporating a prodigious amount of
research, utilizes many original documents
and new resources published here for the
first time. She conducted scores of
interviews and listened to many Muir stories
handed down through the generations by
friends, neighbors, and family members. She
utilized the archives of the State Historical
Society of Wisconsin and the
University of Wisconsin
-Madison, as well as those of local
libraries and historical societies, the
John Muir National Historic Site
in Martinez,
California, and the Yosemite Park Library. The
result of her research goes far in connecting
Muir's Wisconsin roots to the greater body of
his life and work.
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Muir Family and Friends xxix
I Some of the Happiest Days of My Life
II Hickory Hill Farm
III Adrift in this big Sunny World
IV Wisdom Bins and Wheat Bins
V The Cornerstone
VI Nature's Basement Rooms
VII Planting the Seed
VIII The Hearth of John Muir's World
IX A Bit of Wisconsin Landscape
X Daniel Muir's Abdication
XI The Stream of Time
XII My Dear Wanderer
XIII A Helping Hand
XIV Preservation Causes and Family Affairs
XV The Shining Light
Abbreviations
Chapter Notes
Ordering Information
Send order to
Prairie Oak Press
821 Prospect Place
Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Price: If prepaid, $16.95 per copy includes shipping and handling.
(Wisconsin residents add 93 cents sales tax, per copy.)
Write checks to
Prairie Oaks Press.
If to be billed, $16.95 per copy, plus $2.00 postage and handling per copy.
(Wisconsin residents please add 93 cents sales tax, per copy.)
Telephone orders to (608) 255-2288.
Fax orders to (608) 255-43204.
Sorry, no credit card orders.
Educators: If 10 or more copies are ordered
for classroom use, a complimentary desk copy will be provided.
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