Do you have a special book you have loved to pieces? This is Fred’s copy of The Wind in The Willows. He’s had it a long time, and loves it very much. You can just tell…
AT
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Silent Sparks
Book Review: Silent Sparks: The Wondrous World of Fireflies by Sara Lewis
In general I don’t do book reviews, except when something exceptional comes across my desk. Sara Lewis’s Silent Sparks is one of those special books. This book works on so many levels that I barely know where to begin. I guess the most impressive thing about the book is how it seamlessly integrates the enchanting world of a summer evening in a meadow with the science of fireflies. This narrative flows so smoothly and gracefully that you hardly realize that you are absorbing the latest biological and ecological research on fireflies and related insects. The book never feels dumbed down, or didactic. Even when Dr. Lewis discusses the threats to fireflies (development, light pollution, pesticides, and, alas, collecting), she never gets preachy, and I found myself nodding, yes, yes, yes to every point.
What makes this book so magical is not only its eloquence but, of course, the subject matter. Who knew that the secret lives of fireflies were full of such poisons & potions, romance, intrigue, disguises, competition, and even treachery, deadly treachery? Well they are, and this book is a page-turner.
Dr. Lewis, a Professor Evolutionary and Behavioral Ecology at Tufts University, is at the forefront of firefly research. I was delighted to read her account of one of the original pioneers in the field, the late John Buck, a biologist at the National Institutes of Health. In the 70’s I spent a delightful evening with Dr. Buck at his Woods Hole house talking about synchronization of animals, especially fireflies. That and some of the other fascinating people in Woods Hole helped fuel my early interest in the natural world.
Silent Sparks is a lush, beautifully-illustrated, semi-coffee table book that nevertheless was on my bedside table for a month as I slowly digested every delicious page.
We live in a great area for fireflies and I expect that they will be more appreciated than ever this summer. If you are interested in these elfin creatures of the night, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this book.
I don’t know where the title of the book originates from. Could it be a poem by Emily Dickinson? Here is one example:
“A winged spark doth soar about —
I never met it near
For Lightning it is oft mistook
When nights are hot and sere“
2nd Edition Now Available
Happy April Fools, but this is no joke. It’s the day the 2nd Edition of In the Wake of the Willows was born. It also decided to defy the signs that Spring is here by showing us a bit of snow. Ah well, the newly arrived winter wren greeted us this morning with his bubbly song, and the grass is decidedly greener on this side of the calendar.
Ironically, In the Wake of the Willows begins it’s story on a fine day in mid-April. Join in the adventure. When we hold a book in our hands during these difficult times; we can take a journey, become inspired, fall in love, or forget, forget, forget…
The 2nd Edition tells the same wonderful story, but with new material, added paragraphs, more full page illustrations, and a new postscript, and appendix. My favorite new addition is the Song of Spring. Look for it in the Epilogue.
During this time of COVID-19, our local book sellers need your support. Please contact them to get your copy of the 2nd Edition.
Elizabeth at Partners Village Store can take your special orders and have them available for pick up at their take-out window: https://partnersvillagestore.com/books
Titcomb’s Book Shop fills online and phone orders for delivery or curbside pickup: https://www.titcombsbookshop.com
See our website for more info on how to get your copy: https://willowslink.wordpress.com/home/available-at
Enjoy!
AT
Happy Birthday Kenneth Grahame
It’s the birthday of essayist and children’s author Kenneth Grahame, (books by this author) born in Edinburgh, Scotland (1859). He is best known for his book The Wind in the Willows (1908), which he composed from bedtime stories he told to his son.
He had already published two books of stories for children, but The Wind in the Willows was rejected by publishers because it had talking animals in it. At the time, talking animals were considered too fantastic. Teddy Roosevelt, a fan of Grahame’s earlier work, convinced a publisher to take the book. It was a huge success, and it continues to sell well, over 100 years later.
Grahame was able to retire from his bank job because of the book. He lived for another 25 years, but he never wrote another one.
From The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor
On the Radio
We’re lightheaded after our radio interview with Jeannette de Beauvoir of Art Week on WOMR in Provincetown. (I don’t think I took a real breath throughout the 26 minute conversation.) Catch it live Thursday, February 20, 2020 at 12:30pm, and as a podcast.
AT
Hard to Kill
Someone upstairs or something is trying to kill me. They have not succeeded yet, but I gotta wonder.
Last week it was a BMW on I-195; it hit my car so hard that I spun around two or three times, bounced off the guard rail, and popped back into oncoming traffic in the middle lane. By some miracle I was not then hit by another car or, gulp, a truck. I loved that car and only owned if for year or so; it is now a pile of junk. I have not recovered yet; I still have headaches and various pains and bump & bruises.
Last summer it was a guy drag racing on Hixbridge Rd who t-boned me at high speed and wrecked my previous Honda Fit. He drove off, but left his license plate at the scene and was quickly apprehended by the Westport police.
Before that it was prostate cancer, but I am in remission and currently my PSA is a very satisfying 0.0. I am still really messed up because of the cancer drug (Lupron) but that should be out of my system in 4-5 months.
Before that, I chain sawed my foot when in the woods. Luckily the wound was not too deep and I did not bleed out in the woods. St. Ann’s hospital patched my up with 22 stiches and now the foot is fine. The bright side of the chainsaw accident was that I wrote my book while in bed.
Someone or something is trying kill me. Except for the chainsaw pedicure, none of these disasters were my fault.
Maybe it is one of my siblings with a voodoo doll. Maybe not; but I am still on this side of the grass. So take that!
Book Review: Where the Crawdads Sing
Book Review: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Every so often a transcendent book comes along, and I feel that Where the Crawdads is one of those. It is probably the best book I have ever read. I finished it last week, and I am still stunned.
Initially, I did not know a thing about Where the Crawdads Sing, but I did know of Delia Owens from Cry of the Kalahari, a wonderful book she wrote with her husband, Mark (they have since divorced). As a nature writer, I try to read all the natural history classics and Cry of the Kalahari was one of the better ones (and certainly one of the most hair-raising).
So without reading any reviews or commentary, I started listening to an audio version of Where the Crawdads Sing on my daily commute. I was immediately struck by the elegant natural history observations and metaphors that Ms. Owens employed. As a nature writer myself, I greatly admire such a writing style. But there was more, much more; this book drew me in like few have before; Ms. Owens deftly weaves a tale of heartache, romance, betrayal, and, well, I leave the rest up to you.
I cannot say enough good things about this masterpiece. If you are interested in lyrical nature writing, romance, and intrigue, you will love this book.
Last Book Signing of 2019
Fred loves the Westport Farmer’s Market. Throughout the market season he collects all the onions, peppers, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes and squash he can stuff in his reusable bags, and cooler. It’s the start of his weekend.
Imagine his delight when they asked him to join in the last market of 2019 to sign his books!
AT
A Real Calendar
The change of seasons recorded in our calendars do not seem like a real reflection of what is happening in the natural world. Sure the seasons are based on the solstices and equinoxes, but this is way off.
A more realistic calendar would be made of rubber so it could stretch a bit this way and that. It would mark the end of the year as the first frost. This is when the whole insect and plant ecosystem do an abrupt, sudden about face. Spring would begin when the first wood frogs sing (mid March). Fall would start with the monarch migration and summer would be marked by…well there are too many choices there. FGT
More Book tidbits
