From the interactive clockwork world of geology, tides, Northwest
weather, and snow, to the hidden roles of dirt, stream life, and
mosses and lichens, Pulitzer Prize winning writer William Dietrich
explores the natural splendors of the Pacific Northwest. His topics
include alder and cedar; jellyfish, geoducks, crabs, and killer
whales; mosquitoes and spiders; gulls, crows, and bald eagles; and
sea otters, coyotes, raccoons, possums, deer, and cougars.
This informative and engaging selection of natural history
essays is adapted from articles published in the Seattle Times
magazine, "Pacific Northwest." A native Washingtonian, Dietrich has
watched the Northwest double in population during his lifetime. Our
rapidly changing view of nature is an underlying theme throughout
his wide-ranging essays, as is the timely and essential question of
how best to share and conserve the natural world that drew us to
the region in the first place.
Not a field guide nor an environmental policy book, "Natural
Grace" is intended as a primer for people who are curious about the
environment they live in and the pressures upon it. "We only care
about what we know," says the author. "I've concluded that
enthusiasm and commitment begin from learning just how marvelous
this region is: Passion has to precede purpose." And there is much
to marvel over. Dietrich has unearthed fascinating and unexpected
facts about his subjects, and he has a gift for expressing complex
information in clear and vivid language. He asks intriguing
questions and makes good use of interviews with Northwest
scientists and experts to convey current and historic attitudes and
economic realities, and to consider where we go from here.
William Dietrich is a staff writer for the "Seattle Times'
Pacific Northwest" magazine. As a science reporter for the Seattle
Times he won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Exxon
Valdez oil spill. He is the author of "Northwest Passage: The Great
Columbia River" and "The Final Forest: The Battle for the Last
Great Trees of the Pacific Northwest," as well as several works of
fiction. He lives in Anacortes, Washington.
"In snappy, thoughtful, sometimes soaring and often funny prose,
Bill Dietrich gives us a remarkable and memorable tour of our
biotic realm. His penetrating portraits of flora and fauna both
favorite and despised make us realize and cherish our rich natural
setting as never before. Natural Graces burgeons forth in a happy
parade of neat creatures riding the rain, the snow, the tides, and
the quakes, leaving us no excuse at all for ignoring their beauty,
fascination, and plight."--Robert Michael Pyle, author of "National
Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies"
"William Dietrich approaches the damp woods and shimmering
waterways of the Pacific Northwest with a journalist's curiosity
and naturalist's sense of wonder. The stories he finds there never
fail to inform and delight. "Natural Grace" celebrates the mystery,
complexity, and quirkiness of this still-wild corner of the earth.
And it prompts us, even more deeply, to care for it." - Tim
McNulty, author of "Olympic National Park: A Natural History"
"If you enjoyed "Snow Falling on Cedars," perhaps you'd enjoy
knowing more about snow, about cedars, and about every other
natural phenomenon that makes the Northwest the most fecund and
spectacular corner of our continent. This book should be as useful
for anyone living in Oregon and Washington as the Portland and
Seattle phonebooks." - Bill McKibben, author of "The End of
Nature"
"Bill Dietrich makes 'the little things that run the world' come
gloriously and delightfully to life. If you haven't loved jellyfish
and plain old dirt before, you will now. Dietrich writes with wit
and charm and sound knowledge of the natural world. This is classic
natural history at its best." - Ann Zwinger, author of "Shaped by
Wind and Water: Reflections of a Naturalist"
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