"I'm never at a loss for things to study or topics to write about: everything in the natural world is fair game. If I'm not intrigued and excited every time I step outside, it just means I'm not paying attention."
- from Feathers by Thor Hanson
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Tennessee Naturalist UT Press Author blog
• University of Tennessee Press author and speaker, Tennessee naturalist
•
Stephen Lyn Bales
writer, speaker, humorist, photographer, artist, gonzo naturalist, local natural historian, official Tremonster, recycler of aluminum cans, listener of old LPs, taker of afternoon naps at 959 feet above sea level at 35º55'N, 83º56'W
"excellent writer, very humorous speaker"
- Crossville Chronicle
• Fifth generation Smoky Mountain hillbilly
(Caleb to Jim to Homer to Russell to moi with a lot of help from Elizabeth, Emma, Pearl and Mary Helen)
•Pi Beta Phi Elementary School, Gatlinburg-Pittman High School, East Tennessee State University & the University of Tennessee
• Author of three books for the University of Tennessee Press:Natural Histories andGhost Birds(Jim Tanner and the ivorybills), plus the new Ephemeral by Nature. In the works: Bad Dads/Good Fathers and Gatlinburg: Timber Town to Mountain Resort.
"Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1935 to 1941." UT Press 2010
Ghost Birds talk
Yakima Valley College 2017
Nominated: Deep South Book Prize
Ghost Birds was nominated for the Deep South Book Prize presented by the Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South at the University of Alabama.
Smithsonian article
(Click for article) or to buy a copy of the September 2010 "Smithsonian" with my ivory-bill article signed by Nancy Tanner contact me.
Ghost Birds: Reviews
Sets Tanner for the first time firmly in the pantheon of America's leading ornithologists
Notecards of my ivory-bill cover art are available, either singularly (with envelope) or boxes of eight cards (with envelopes) For more information, contact me.
Ivory-bill print
11X14 prints, suitable for framing, of my ivory-bill cover art are available. For more information, contact me.
An eclectic mix of local history and natural history that informs and delights in equal measure
• History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees
by James Mooney
The Trail of Tears
by Gloria Jahoda
The De Soto Chronicles editors Clayton, Knight, Moore Looking for De Soto by Joyce Hudson Tennessee: A Bicentennial History by Wilma Dykeman
The Cherokees and Their Chiefs by Stanley Hoig
The Southeastern Indians
by Charles Hudson
Tribes that Slumber
by Lewis & Kneberg
Pilgrims of the Wild
by Grey Owl A New Voyage to Carolina by John Lawson Travels of William Bartram by William Bartram
also available
Natural Histories notecards with illustrations from the book
pen to paper
Written over 600 nature articles and columns for local publications: The Tennessee Conservationist, Smokies Life, the farragutpress, Hellbender Press, Tennessee Yards & Neighborhoods and national: Smithsonian magazine. Author ofNatural Histories andGhost Birds published by the University of Tennessee Press.
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey Rarest of the Rare
by Diane Ackerman The Unspoken Hunger by Terry Tempest Williams
Incredible journeys: 10 favorite books
• The Path
by Chet Raymo
River of Doubt
by Candice Millard
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer The Man Who Walked Through Time by Colin Fletcher The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf by John Muir River Horse by William Least Heat-Moon Walking towards Walden by John Hanson Mitchell
Being Caribou by Karsten Heur Dragon Hunter by Novacek & Gallenkamp
Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen
Science books: my favorites to look for
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The Evolution of Beauty
by Richard Prum
The Song of the Dodo
by David Quammen
In the Shadow of Man
by Jane Goodall
People of the Lake
by Richard Leakey
The Wauchula Woods Accord by Charles Siebert The Invention of Clouds by Richard Hamblyn Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind by Donald Johanson A Gap in Nature by Flannery & Schouten
The Diversity of Life by E. O. Wilson
The Reluctant Mr. Darwin
by David Quammen
The Beak of the Finch
by Jonathan Weiner
The Ghost with Trembling Wings
by Scott Weidensaul
Unearthing the Dragon by Mark Norell Copernicus' Secret
by Jack Repcheck The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester The Measure of all Things by Ken Alder
Plus favorites about birds & birding
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What the Robin Knows by Jon Young Atlas of Rare Birds
by Dominic Couzens
The Feather Quest
by Pete Dunne
Kingbird Highway by Kenn Kaufman
The Bluebird Effect
by Julie Zickefoose Living on the Wind
by Scott Weidensaul
The Wisdom of Birds
by T.R. Birkhead
The Grail Bird
by Tim Gallagher
Spix's Macaw
by Tony Juniper Songbird Journeys
by Miyoko Coco Chu The Carolina Parakeet
by Noel F.R. Snyder
Life in the Skies
by Jonathan Rosen
A Shadow and a Song
by Mark Jerome Walters Return of the Osprey
by David Gessner
The Big Year
by Mark Obmascik
In Search of the Ivory-billed Woodpeckerby Jerome Jackson
Red-Tails in Love
by Marie Winn
Uniquely/Oddly American: 10 favorite books
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The Thoreau You Don't Know by Robert Sullivan
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
by Dee Brown
The Final Days
by Bernstein & Woodward
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson Remembering America
by Richard Goodwin
Stealing Lincoln's Body
by Thomas Craughwell
Confederates in the Attic
by Tony Horwitz
Edward S. Curtis: Coming to Light
by Anne Makepeace
Under a Wild Sky by William Souder
Race to Save the Lord God Birdby Phillip Hoose
Remarkable stories: 10 favorites
• Van Gogh: The Life by Naifeh & Smith The Professor and the Madman
by Simon Winchester
Poe & Fanny
by John May
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Love and Hatred by William Shirer Mauve by Simon Garfield Killing Mister Watson & Lost Man's River by Peter Matthiessen The Legacy of Luna by Julia Butterfly Hill The Monsters by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
Plus 10 darn good reads, darn good
• Kidnapping the Lorax
by Patricia Lichen
Never Cry Wolf
by Farley Mowat
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh West with the Night by Beryl Markham Thunderstruck by Erik Larson My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir
Special thanks for stopping by my blog. This journal has logged over a quarter of a million page-views. Most of the visitors have lived in the U.S, but after that, nature callinghas been visited by people from 107 other countries plus Antarctica. That's more places than I'll ever get to visit using my own two legs.
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Thank you for stopping by
Recent visits from
• Klang, Malaysia • Arica, Chile
• Tallinn, Estonia • Bondy, France • Zaventem, Belgium • Bangalore, India • Karachi, Pakistan • Ryde, New South Wales • Göteborg, Sweden • Khabarovsk, Russia • Bekasi, Indonesia • Robilante, Italy • Maastricht, Netherlands • Smethwick, GB • Brasília, Brazil • Kiev, Ukraine • Shanghai, China • Istanbul, Turkey • Zagreb, Croatia
• Vihtavuori, Finland • Pazardjik, Bulgaria • Taichung City, Taiwan • Riyadh, Saudi Arabia • Quezon City, Philippines • São Paulo, Brazil • St. John's, Newfoundland • Luanda, Angola • Phnom Penh, Cambodia • Cebu, Philippines
So you are sitting up on that grand old mountain tonight. Possession is 9/10s of the law.
I’ve often fantasized about spending the winter up there in the cold and snow and quiet. Although I’m not sure if it would bring out the Thoreau in me or The Shining’s Jack Torrance.
I’ve been up and down all the trails, but it’s been several years since I spent the night.
2 comments:
That is my favorite new shot of LeConte. I really enjoy your blog. Hope you make it up sometime this winter.
Best,
JP
LeConte Lodge Winter Caretaker
Hello John Paul.
So you are sitting up on that grand old mountain tonight. Possession is 9/10s of the law.
I’ve often fantasized about spending the winter up there in the cold and snow and quiet. Although I’m not sure if it would bring out the Thoreau in me or The Shining’s Jack Torrance.
I’ve been up and down all the trails, but it’s been several years since I spent the night.
Take good care of it.
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