Published in 2008, this colorful, in-depth biography, A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir, tells the story of the Scottish-American naturalist who founded the Sierra Club and tirelessly campaigned to protect the Sierra Nevada and its national parks. Reading this book gives you the full flavor of Muir’s life and times. The books doesn’t just recount the public record of the USA’s most influential early conservationist, but peppers the narrative with personal anecdotes and excerpts from Muir’s own correspondence.
Written by scholar Donald Worster, this book is a lyrical read, and not at all like a dry textbook. The author weaves historical details with descriptions of the wild, natural places that John Muir loved and studied throughout his life. The book begins with Muir’s earliest years in Scotland and growing up on a farm in Wisconsin. It then traces Muir’s wanderings across North America, from the swamps of South Florida to the icy glaciers of Alaska. You’ll also find out about Muir’s married life on a ranch and farm in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he helped raise two daughters.
Of course, much of this book is devoted to Muir’s political activism and time he spent living in and exploring the Yosemite Valley and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which he called “The Range of Light.” As critics have pointed out, this book is quite relevant to 21st-century readers, who live in a time when the conservation of natural resources and preservation of wilderness is more important than ever. If we listen, John Muir’s message can be as meaningful today as it was during the man’s own lifetime.
