Publisher's Synopsis
Muir (1838-1914), also known as 'John of the Mountains' and 'Father of the National Parks', was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosoper, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the US. His activism helped preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and many other wilderness areas, and the Sierra Club, which he co-founded in 1892, remains a prominent conservation organization. The spiritual quality and enthusiasm for nature expressed in his writings has inspired readers, including presidents and congressmen, to take action to preserve large nature areas. Muir's family emigrated from Scotland to the US in 1849, starting a farm in Portage, Wisconsin, and aged 22 Muir enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Although he never graduated he learned enough geology and botany to inform his later wanderings. In 1867 he undertook a walk of about 1,000 miles from Kentucky to Florida, which he recorded in a journal which was published posthumously in 1916. The book includes an introduction by Muir's literary executor and biographer, William Frederic Bade, who first met Muir through the Sierra Club, and is illustrated with a photographic portrait of Muir, a map of his journey and two of his sketches from the original journal.
