WENDELL BERRY IS AUTHOR FOR NOVEMBER 2009

The PVNWG Readers' Club has selected Wendell Berry as the author and The Long-Legged House as our read for the month of November 2009. The book will be the focus of the Readers' Club meeting on December 6.

Wendell Berry farmed a homestead in Northern Kentucky from the early 1960s, and is one of the most revered environmental writers, winning numerous awards. His body of work includes novels, short stories, essays, fiction and poetry. The Long-Legged House, published in 1969, was his first collection of essays and set forth his dominant themes: sustainable agriculture, connection to place, the pleasures of good food, good work, healthy communities, fidelity, reverence, and the interconnectedness of all life.

All About the Author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry

Reviews

http://www.ecobooks.com/berry.htm

An Interview with Wendell Berry

http://arts.envirolink.org/interviews_and_conversations/WendellBerry.html

"The Requirement" by Wendell Berry (Harper's Magazine)

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/03/0081443

NOVEMBER 1 MEETING REPORT

Our meeting to discuss Marie Winn's Red-tails in Love was very enjoyable. The meeting mirrored some of themes of the book itself. One member graciously hosted the meeting from her home in the treetops. The setting was a worthy site for a hawk's nest. Our group meets regularly to share our admiration for nature writers as did the New York birders. As a group they tracked the progress of a pair of hawks who nested high on a tony apartment building overlooking Central Park, culminating in a party with champagne when the fledglings soared from the nest. The enthusiasm of our group for the author's work mirrored Winn's praises of the natural wonders of the Park and her fond observations about the quirks and talents of her fellow birders. The vote of the 4 "regulars" present (4 regulars and 1 guest-welcome!) was that Winn's writing is the most accessible and entertaining of any of the authors we have read so far. We especially remarked on the effortless way she weaves natural history information into the story--which reads like a mystery. If you want to know more, you will have to read the book!

NOVEMBER 1 MEETING LOCATION

Sunday, 3:00 PM, November 1, 2009 we meet to discuss Red-tails in Love, by Marie Winn.
This meeting is at a current member's private home by invitation only, so directions will not be posted on the blog. Any persons who are interested in joining the group may attend this meeting as a guest of a current member. If you wish to attend as a guest, please email pvnaturewriters@gmail.com for further information.

MARIE WINN IS AUTHOR FOR OCTOBER 2009

For October we are reading Red Tails in Love: A True Wildlife Drama in Central Park by Marie Winn. (Click on her name to go to her home page.) This is the story of Pale Male, as the hawk hero was known by his fans, and about whom a NOVA episode was filmed. You may have seen the enchanting documentary on PBS, but the book provides many more details to savor and enjoy, not the least of which is Winn's whimsical and entertaining writing style.

Winn is a nature columnist for the Wall Street Journal. She has written a nature blog on happenings in Central Park for years now: check it out here. She also has a newer nature book out entitled Central Park in the Dark. There is a link to her bio on her website (see above). For reviews of the book click on her photo at right.

The key action in Red Tails in Love takes place in the spring. However, October is a great time in our area to watch out for migrating hawks. We won't be able to organize an official PVNWG outing this month as we did for mosses in September but members are encouraged to get out there and look for hawks!

Washington's Monument near Boonsboro, MD is a favored spot to see hawks, as well as other birds of prey as they ride the thermals southward along the ridgetops. Waggoner's Gap and Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania are enticing as well for those of us with the time, energy and gas money to make the trek. I can vouch for all three of these sites as exciting places to visit. Hawk Mountain has a beautiful nature center with naturalist talks using live rehabilitated birds.

For all you ever wanted to know about hawks check out Blakeman on Hawks. Also see Hawk Watch Association. Here is the site they list for West Virginia in Monroe County: Hanging Tower. If anyone has a tip for a good nearby site, please email pvnaturewriters@gmail.com and I will post it.

Enjoy the book and please note that our next meeting is on NOVEMBER 1, site to be announced.

SEPTEMBER MEETING AND NEW AUTHOR LINE UP

The meeting on September 27 had six attendees, five "old" members and one new. Our discussion about Robin Wall Kimmerer's Gathering Moss focused on our personal experiences of using the four ways of knowing-mind, body, emotions, and spirit-in learning about nature.

We also extended our selection of authors through January 2010. We decided to alternate 'vintage' nature writers with more contemporary ones, and also alternate male and female authors.

Upcoming for October is the already selected Marie Winn and her book Redtails in Love.
The remaining months each have a main book selection but any writing by the selected author will serve as well.

November- Wendell Berry (The Long-Legged House)

December-Diane Ackerman (The Moon By Whale Light)

January- Bernd Heinrich (Winter World).

A major change is a shift of the meetings to the FIRST SUNDAY of the month. This change will better accomodate the upcoming November and December holidays. We will not meet in October. The next meeting will be Sunday, November 1, when we will discuss Marie Winn's book. Site to be announced on the website.

Site for September Meeting, September 27, 3:00 PM

Site for September Meeting, Sunday, September 27, 3:00 PM: Shaharazade's Tea Room in Shepherdstown. They are open through the late afternoon, unlike some of the other places in Shepherdstown. The website makes it look wild but everytime I've been there its been peaceful and quiet. See map:http://www.shaharazades.com/directions.htm

NEW LOCATION FOR SEPTEMBER'S MEETING

Yankauer Nature Preserve is holding another event in the pavilion on Sunday, September 27, so our scheduled 3:00 PM meeting will need to find another location. Watch this site for an update on the new location. Members will receive an email directing them to the new site, as well.