- Published: 15 September 2015
- ISBN: 9781619025837
- Imprint: Catapult
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 296
- RRP: $32.99
The Carry Home
Lessons From the American Wilderness
- Published: 15 September 2015
- ISBN: 9781619025837
- Imprint: Catapult
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 296
- RRP: $32.99
"[A] haunting, deeply personal account of tragedy, grief and recovery...[Ferguson] sheds rich, nuanced light on the influence of nature on generations past, present and future."—Canoe and Kayak "Ever–evocative nature writer Ferguson (Shouting at the Sky) pens a memoir that doubles as an intensely personal, sweet, and melancholy love song to his lost beloved and to the wild places of America. In the background, observations of both the timelessness of nature and of the moods of a whole generation of itinerant nature lovers give a quiet universality to Ferguson's private thoughts " —Publisher's Weekly "Gary Ferguson writes under the influence of poetry, especially that of beat poets Kenneth Rexroth and Gary Snyder, known as the poet laureate of Deep Ecology. But Ferguson's prose is clear and engaging, and he uses it to convey his hard–earned knowledge of fear and freedom and the failings of the boomer generation." —High Country News "With the same exceptional skill and astute observations about our environmental heritage that he displayed in 22 previous nonfiction works on nature and science Elegiac and deeply moving, Ferguson's memoir is both a heartfelt eulogy to his late, beloved wife and an introspective meditation on the healing power of nature over grief." —Booklist "Gary Ferguson has told an exquisite and heart–rending tale. It is a journey into the deepest parts of the human soul and the wildest places in wilderness. I defy any reader to finish this brilliant book with dry eyes." —Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil's Highway, Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize "The Wilderness Act turns 50 this year, making it an ideal time to reflect on the impact of nature on our lives. For nature writer Gary Ferguson, however, the subject is deeply personal. After his wife Jane died in a 2005 canoeing accident, he traveled across America to scatter her ashes in wild spaces. The resulting powerhouse of a book is not to be missed." —Backpacker Magazine "In his memoir, The Carry Home, he taps into reverent, almost spiritual incantations of nature, and genuinely so. He highlights lively imagery and derives wisdom from his interactions with the wild outdoors. This memoir is a tribute to his late wife as much as it is a work of memory or close connection with the environment. At the end of the memoir, the author presents a vibrant and hopeful beginning as he learns to move on and embrace recovery and healing that come with coping with the loss of a loved one. Ultimately, it is a graceful portrait of a life lived and loved, adorned by the illustrious and expansive wilderness that we call life. The Carry Home is a quiet journey of introspection for the little things and the big things that life requires of us."—Deseret News "Praise Gary Ferguson, for taking us on the most intimate journey from utter loss and devastation through rebirth and all the way to wonder, for letting the wilderness that had always saved him, save him again. Praise him for this big hearted, lyrical, and loving reminder of why we went to the wilderness in the first place, of how it saved us and made us—and how it might still. If we are courageous enough to love it in all its diminishments, if we are brave enough to fight for what remains." —Pam Houston, author of Contents May Have Shifted "Here is alchemy; equal parts intellect, courage, and honesty. In The Carry Home Gary Ferguson has accomplished what only the best of us can hope to achieve in a lifetime; he has spun grief into a golden exultation of the natural world and its ability to heal our wounds." —Mark Spragg, author of Where Rivers Change Direction and An Unfinished Life "...the author twines this talent for alert, panoptical movement through spaces and places Throughout the author emphasized and explores the couple's love of, and dev