Nature's Beloved Son: Rediscovering John Muir's Botanical Legacy - Hardcover

As a young boy growing up in Wisconsin, John Muir faithfully recorded in his journal that the pasque-flower was a hopeful multitude of large, hairy, silky buds about as thick as one s thumb and that lady s slipper orchid in nearby meadows caught the eye of all the European settlers and made them gaze and wonder like children. Muir was blessed early on with a love and aptitude for botany, a field of study that helped him become one of the most influential environmentalists in the world. One realizes, in reading Nature s Beloved Son, how much Muir s successes as adventurer, writer, and environmental advocate were driven by his belief in nature s irresistible, divine beauty. Surprisingly, however, little has been written about John Muir the botanist. Environmental historian Bonnie J. Gisel takes us through Muir s evolving relationship with the natural world, touching on his childhood in Scotland and Wisconsin, his sojourn in Canada, his thousand-mile walk from Louisville, Kentucky, to the Gulf of Mexico, his ecstatic travels in California s Sierra Nevada, and his thrilling exploration of Alaska. Photographer Stephen J. Joseph s breathtaking prints of Muir s botanical specimens and related correspondence are artfully presented in this book and provide the backdrop for the story of Muir s inordinate fondness for plants. With the help of major foundations and generous individuals, Heyday has produced a book of superlative beauty with the highest of printing and design standards, a book worthy of Muir s great spirit and the ineffable beauty of the plant world.