| Poetic Matrix Press announces the release of |
NATURE JOURNAL
WITH
JOHN MUIR
EDITED BY BONNIE JOHANNA GISEL
WITH
JOHN MUIR
EDITED BY BONNIE JOHANNA GISEL
| To order the hardcover edition |
| To order the paperback edition |
From the Editor
Selections from the two-hundred articles written and published by John
Muir are offered here to provide stepping-stones for inspiration and
thoughtfulness for your writing and sketching journey. Considered to be
one of the great mountaineers and one of the earliest plant ecologists,
Muir saw with clarity the world he sought to preserve for all time. He
was one of Nature’s visionaries. As you walk your own pathless journey
of discovery in Nature and wilderness may you find that the gentleness
of Muir's spirit and the keenness of his sight provide a guiding light as
you seek to find ways to draw yourself nearer to the goodness and
greatness that abounds upon mountain tops, in warm sunny meadows,
and near cool streams.
- Bonnie Johanna Gisel
Selections from the two-hundred articles written and published by John
Muir are offered here to provide stepping-stones for inspiration and
thoughtfulness for your writing and sketching journey. Considered to be
one of the great mountaineers and one of the earliest plant ecologists,
Muir saw with clarity the world he sought to preserve for all time. He
was one of Nature’s visionaries. As you walk your own pathless journey
of discovery in Nature and wilderness may you find that the gentleness
of Muir's spirit and the keenness of his sight provide a guiding light as
you seek to find ways to draw yourself nearer to the goodness and
greatness that abounds upon mountain tops, in warm sunny meadows,
and near cool streams.
- Bonnie Johanna Gisel
Bonnie Johanna Gisel is a naturalist, artist, nature writer, and historian
who has written extensively about the life and work of John Muir.
Presently she is at work on a book on John Muir and his life as a
botanist. She is the author of the introduction to John Muir: Family,
Friends, and Adventures and the author and editor of Kindred & Related
Spirits: The Letters of John Muir and Jeanne C. Carr. She has published
articles and lectured on John Muir and her own journeys in wilderness,
including “A Song in Several Keys. Yosemite Journal,” that appeared in
California Tour and Travel. Bonnie is the curator at the Sierra Club’s
LeConte Memorial Lodge in Yosemite National Park, where she designs
environmental education programs including the “Nature Journal,” the
Wilderness Quilt Project, Words for Wilderness Around the World, and
Green Shoes.
who has written extensively about the life and work of John Muir.
Presently she is at work on a book on John Muir and his life as a
botanist. She is the author of the introduction to John Muir: Family,
Friends, and Adventures and the author and editor of Kindred & Related
Spirits: The Letters of John Muir and Jeanne C. Carr. She has published
articles and lectured on John Muir and her own journeys in wilderness,
including “A Song in Several Keys. Yosemite Journal,” that appeared in
California Tour and Travel. Bonnie is the curator at the Sierra Club’s
LeConte Memorial Lodge in Yosemite National Park, where she designs
environmental education programs including the “Nature Journal,” the
Wilderness Quilt Project, Words for Wilderness Around the World, and
Green Shoes.
| These journals are perfect for workshops, classes, writing, hiking, and sketching groups; for youth groups and adults. Please contact the publisher for quantity discounts. |
Available in both hardcover and paperback.
hardcover - 160 pages, price $20.00, ISBN 0-9714003-7-7
paperback - 160 pages, price $16.00, ISBN 0-9714003-5-0
hardcover - 160 pages, price $20.00, ISBN 0-9714003-7-7
paperback - 160 pages, price $16.00, ISBN 0-9714003-5-0
| hardcover available on Amazon.com |
| If poets and lovers of poetry don't write, publish, read, and purchase poetry books then we will have no say in the quality of our contemporary culture and no excuse for the abuses of language, ideas, truth, beauty, and love in our cultural life. |
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I made up a bundle of bread, tied my note-book to my belt, and
strode away in the bracing air, full of eager, indefinite hope.
strode away in the bracing air, full of eager, indefinite hope.
| Then came evening, and the somber cliffs were inspired with the ineffable beauty of the alpenglow. A solemn calm fell upon every feature of the landscape. All the lower portion of the canyon was in gloaming shadow, and I crept into a hollow near one of the upper lakelets to smooth away the burrs from a sheltered spot for a bed. When the short twilight faded I kindled a sunny fire, made a cup of tea, and lay down with my face to the deep clean sky. Soon the night-wind began to flow and pour in torrents among the jagged peaks, mingling its strange tones with those of the waterfalls sounding far below. |
I never before saw a plant so full of life; so perfectly spiritual,
it seemed pure enough for the throne of its Creator. I felt as if I
were in the presence of superior beings who loved me
and beckoned me to come. I sat down beside them
and wept for joy. Could angels in their better land show us
a more beautiful plant? How good is our Heavenly Father
in granting us such friends as are these plant-creatures,
filling us wherever we go with pleasure so deep,
so pure, so endless.
it seemed pure enough for the throne of its Creator. I felt as if I
were in the presence of superior beings who loved me
and beckoned me to come. I sat down beside them
and wept for joy. Could angels in their better land show us
a more beautiful plant? How good is our Heavenly Father
in granting us such friends as are these plant-creatures,
filling us wherever we go with pleasure so deep,
so pure, so endless.
| Perhaps you have already said that you have seen enough for a lifetime. But before you go away you should spend at least one day and a night on a mountain top, for a last general calming, settling view. |
Excerpts from John Muir's writings that head each page in this writing and sketching journal.
Nature Journal with John Muir reviewed on Amazon.com by Jill Harcke