BOOKS

Book cover titled 'Seasons of Letting Go' with a background of mountains and a sunset sky.

Seasons of Letting Go

In 2016 I self-published a book of 12 essays written during and just after the death of my mother. This memoir chronicles the readjustment of my life, which involved the move to a new town—Asheville—and the subsequent rebuilding of my social network. The short book starts with loss but is mostly about the resilience we humans learn is possible when we undertake the hard work of grieving, and then risk reinventing ourselves after letting go.

Back cover of a book featuring a photograph of a smiling woman in a pink jacket holding a mug, with text describing the book's theme about caregiving and grief, and reviews from notable individuals.
Book cover titled 'A Search for Safe Passage' featuring illustrations of a bear, a deer, a turtle, a gecko, and a flying hawk against a mountainous landscape with a winding trail.

A Search for Safe Passage

During five weekends in 2020, when COVID lockdown prevented social interaction, a colleague challenged me to write a book to support the Safe Passage movement. I sat by my creek and wrote what the late author George Ellison deemed “a fable.” It follows the adventures of 19 species of wildlife banding together to cross a highway, bringing into focus the greater need for wildlife crossings. Now also an audiobook, it won Publication of the Year in 2022 from the Public Lands Alliance. Illustrated by Emma Oxford.

Cover of a children's book titled 'Mabel Meets a Black Bear', showing a girl with binoculars, a girl taking notes, a butterfly, and a bear climbing a tree in a forest at sunset.

Mabel Meets a Black Bear

Released in 2023, this book is designed for 5- to 10-year-olds to read with parental oversight. It introduces twin ten-year-old girls, Mabel and Louise, who are loosely modeled on the old Highlights Magazine prototypes of Goofus and Gallant. The two learn the hard way how to be BearWise and grow up to teach others the importance of keeping food away from black bears. It was spawned by a colleague in the BearWise task force requesting that I write a book on the topic. Illustrated by Jesse White.

Book cover for 'Camilla and the Caterpillars: How a Young Girl's Love Created a National Park at Home' by Frances Figart, illustrated by Matt Brass. The cover features a young girl with green eyes and dark hair among colorful orange flowers and green foliage, with a green caterpillar on a tree branch and mountains in the background.

Camilla and the Caterpillars

Inspired by the Homegrown National Park movement catalyzed by Doug Tallamy to support species diversity, this 2024 title tells the story of Camilla, who becomes enamored of a Hickory Horned Devil while on an Appalachian Trail hike in the Smokies hike with her parents. When the family moves from a city apartment to a suburban plot of land, they must rid the parcel of invasives and foster native plant growth before they can attract the caterpillars who are the basis of the food web. Illustrated by Matt Brass.