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The Potomac Valley Nature Writing Group book club was active between 2009 and 2015. It was associated with the Potomac Valley Audubon Society. See their website for currently sponsored activities.
About PVNWG
The Potomac Valley Nature Writing Group book club was active between 2009 and 2015. It was associated with the Potomac Valley Audubon Society. See their website for currently sponsored activities.
I perceive a strong current of loneliness and isolation throughout the letters, which makes Dorothy's friendship so important to Rachel. She writes of the "crushing burden" of creative work and how Dorothy sustains her. This feeling comes across in her nature writing too--at least in what I've read so far. The writing is beautiful, breathtaking in its appreciation and awe of the inter-relationships of nature. But behind that is a wistfulness, a longing. I've often thought that many nature writers and other people well known for their connection to nature as well as their creative work, seem set apart from human society in some way. I'm thinking of Diane Fosse, who had many human interactions, but found peace only with her gorilla "family," and voluntary separation from "desperate" society was a running theme through Thoreau's work. I think this is one reason I'm so drawn to nature writers and nature myself. Is this a characteristic of most nature lovers?
ReplyDeleteThis resonates with me: From letter to Dorothy Nov 4, 1957
ReplyDelete" I consider my contributions to scientific fact far less important than my attempts to awaken an emotional response to the world of nature."
Anyone else? Hello are you out there?
Trillium