Showing results by author "John Muir" in All Categories

Part of John Muir's appeal to modern audiences is that he not only explored the American West and wrote about its beauties but also fought for their preservation. His successes dot the landscape and are evident in all the natural features that bear his name: forests, lakes, trails, and glaciers. Here collected are some of Muir's finest wilderness essays, ranging in subject matter from Alaska to Yellowstone, from Oregon to the High Sierra. 

In the summer of 1869, John Muir, a young Scottish immigrant, joined a crew of shepherds in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. The diary he kept while tending sheep formed the heart of this book and eventually lured thousands of Americans to visit Yosemite country. First...

Embark on a journey of self-discovery and connection with the natural world through the lens of exploration and preservation, as suggested by the evocative title. This podcast invites listeners to delve into the profound themes of nature, adventure, and the transformative power of the wilderness. With each episode featuring a new complete audiobook, the series showcases a rotating collection of narratives that celebrate the beauty of our environment and the spirit of those who seek to understand it deeply. These unique explorations reflect on the experiences of wanderers, naturalists, and ...

Discover the extraordinary legacy of John Muir (1838–1914), one of the pioneers of modern preservationism. His captivating letters, essays, and books recounting his adventures in the breathtaking Sierra Nevada Mountains have inspired millions and continue to resonate today. Muirs passionate activism played a crucial role in the preservation of Yosemite Valley and other pristine wilderness areas. As the founder of the Sierra Club, he established one of the most significant conservation organizations in the United States. His profound writings and philosophy laid the groundwork for the modern ...

Join us on a captivating walking tour through the stunning Cañon of the south fork of King’s River in California. Originally published in the Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine in 1881-82, this article features a collection of beautiful charcoal illustrations that bring the majestic landscape to life. Discover the visionary ideas of John Muir, who inspired the establishment of what would become Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, officially designated by Congress on October 1, 1890. This piece not only highlights the natural beauty of the area but also reflects the early conservation ...

The Nature Writing Essentials Collection gathers fourteen works of wilderness reflection, natural history, travel, memoir, and literary observation.

The Conservation Essentials Collection brings together six classics of American nature writing, wilderness reflection, and early conservation thought. Together these works trace a line from personal communion with nature to the broader conservation ethic that helped shape modern environmental thought.

Explore the rich tapestry of belief and tradition as we delve into "Two Old Faiths: Essays on the Religions of the Hindus and the Mohammedans." This podcast invites listeners on a journey through the historical and philosophical landscapes of Hinduism and Islam, examining their unique tenets, practices, and their interplay with Christianity. Each episode features a new complete audiobook, offering a rotating collection of essays that illuminate the contrasts and commonalities between these two significant world religions. This is not a single story but a series of unique explorations that ...

Dive into the heartfelt and often poignant world of canine companionship with "Good Dog Book," a rotating collection that celebrates the deep bond between humans and their furry friends. This podcast features a variety of adult stories and poems that capture the joy, humor, and sometimes the heartache that comes with loving a dog. Each episode presents a new complete audiobook, offering unique explorations of loyalty, adventure, and the bittersweet moments that define our relationships with these beloved pets. While some selections may include themes of violence that could be distressing to ...

Nothing is ordinary in the world of John Muir, naturalist and author known as the Father of the US National Parks. In this short work, written in the latter part of his life for Century Magazine, Muir beckons us to come with him, unrushed, to behold the wonder of the Grand Canyon. Some of the beauty every life needs awaits here. Its magnificence envelops, "carrying us back into the midst of the life of a past infinitely remote. And as we go on and on, studying this old, old life in the light of the life beating warmly about us, we enrich and lengthen our own." - Summary by Rebecca Eden Walker

John Muir's adventure guide for the Yosemite Valley.

This book is a collection of sketches first published in the Atlantic Monthly magazine and gathered into book form in 1901. The focus here is on 4 parks in the west. Six of the 10 articles focus on Yosemite National Park; also described are Yellowstone, Sequoia, and General Grant (renamed Kings Canyon in 1940) National Parks. - Summary by TriciaG

When John Muir was a student in the University of Wisconsin he was a frequent caller at the house of Dr. Ezra S. Carr. The kindness shown him there, and especially the sympathy which Mrs. Carr, as a botanist and a lover of nature, felt in the young man's interests and aims, led to the formation of a lasting friendship. He regarded Mrs. Carr, indeed, as his "spiritual mother," and his letters to her in later years are the outpourings of a sensitive spirit to one who he felt thoroughly understood and sympathized with him. These letters are therefore peculiarly revealing of their writer's ...

http://www.adfreebooks.com - 500+ audiobooks, all ad free"The only fire for the whole house was the kitchen stove, with a fire box about eighteen inches long and eight inches wide and deep,- scant space for three or four small sticks, around which in hard zero weather all the family of ten shivered, and beneath which in the morning we found our socks and coarse, soggy boots frozen solid." Thus, with perceptive eye for detail, the American naturalist, John Muir, describes life on a pioneer Wisconsin farm in the 1850's. Muir was only eleven years old when his father uprooted the family from a ...

Reality is not what it used to be. After consensus reality shatters, and humanity evacuates to mysterious sanctuaries known as smart houses, a group of survivors navigate the uncertain future of the Quantum-sphere. John Kenneth Muir, award-winning author of Exploring Space: 1999 and Horror Films of the 1970s, brings to life a unique vision of humanity's future. Enter The House Between, and discover a world in which quantum mechanics, the many-worlds theory, Everett branches, human mutation, dark matter, and artificial intelligence shape and inform the everyday reality of all people, everywhere...

In this essay, Muir tells his experience of climbing to the top of a tree and riding it for hours through a wild Sierra storm. As he writes, “the danger to life and limb is hardly greater than one would experience crouching deprecatingly beneath a roof.”

"My First Summer in the Sierra" (1911) takes inspiration from Muir’s journals of the months he spent between June and September 1869 as a shepherd in the Sierras. Muir went on to built a cabin along Yosemite Creek, where he lived for two years. He designed it in such a way that a portion of the stream flowed through it, as he wanted to enjoy its music. From French Bar to Mono Lake and the Yosemite Valley, he was awestruck by everything he saw.

Essayist. Preservationist. Mountain man. Inventor. John Muir may be California’s best-known icon. A literary naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club and Yosemite National Park, Muir left his legacy on the landscape and on paper. But the celebrity of John Muir does not tell the whole story. In Essential Muir, for the first time, Muir's selected writings include those that show his ecological vision without ignoring his racism, providing a more complete portrait of the man.

This collection contains Book One: Our National Parks, Book Two: Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, and Book Three: Walden.

Our National Parks by John Muir is a brilliant guide and introduction to Yosemite and several other magnificent parks by the man who helped to create them through his advocacy for the preservation of wilderness areas. The author provides detailed observations of the animals, birds, glaciers, streams, fountains, sights, scents, and sounds of Yosemite, Yellowstone, Mount Rainier, Sequoia, and other forest reservations of the West.