[ Music ] >> Michael Pearce: Hello. I'm Michael Pearce, Director of
The Alabama Center for the Book and affiliate of The
Library of Congress. The Centers for the Book
help carry out the mission of The National Center which
is to promote books, reading, libraries, and literacy
nationwide. We also promote our
state's literary heritage by putting a focus
on books and authors with a connection to our states. Every year as part of the
participation and The Library of Congress National Book
Festival, we each choose a book with a local connection. This is part of the Great Reads
from Great Places Imitative. You can learn more at read.gov. Today we are speaking
with Great Reads authors from several states. They were invited by the
Affiliate Centers for the Book from Alabama, Arkansas,
Arizona, Colorado, and Missouri by the Wyoming State Library to
speak about their work and books that opened the world to them. We conclude, with a panel
discussion of how interacting with the natural world
including reading about the natural world
has helped people cope with life during the pandemic. >> Rick Bragg: My
name is Rick Bragg. And we're going to
talk today about kind of a dog [inaudible]
called The Speckled Beauty. I found an old illegitimate
Australian Shepard starving to death on a ridge
line behind our farm. Oh, I guess about
four years ago. And men in my family are
not good at being careful. And everyone told me
to leave him alone. That it would bring only
grief to bring him down. And I ignored him
for three days. And he never left. And we think he came
here to die. We think he found a place to sit
and watch you know the livestock and watch the smoke
come out of the chimney and you know watch something
that maybe he remembered. But about three days
was all I could stand. So I went up and fed him
half a loaf of raisin bread which I'm sure is
health food for a dog. And carried him back
down the mountain. And he has tortured
us ever since. He [inaudible] stampedes
the livestock. And because he's only
got one good eye, he runs them mostly in a circle. So he doesn't know
where he's taking them. And they don't where
they've been. And he tortures the cats. And he tortures the UPS man. And [inaudible] may not have to
get a car ride to the airport in Atlanta or Birmingham
and he tortures and holds hostage
the limo drivers. So he's - he is just as bad as everyone warned
us that he would be. But there's a thing about
bad dogs that I discovered. A lot of people down
here they don't go to the psychiatrist
when they get down. You know it's just not done. And so we just call it Larry
McMurphy called it living beside a river of melancholy. And I've been down
for some time. I've been sick and
I'd been down. And I discovered that when
you're - when you buy that river of melancholy you
don't need a good dog. A good dog is great
for a good day and a slow day and a sweet day. But you need a bad dog to
rip and tear at [inaudible]. And he is, he is made a life
better which I guess every dog on the earth just
does naturally. >> Rick Bragg: If you grow up in
a house where the only two books in the, in the whole place
are you know the New Testament and spring seed catalog, just
about any book is going to help. But I loved books
that took me away. I know what the end of the
Pulpwood Road looks like. But you know McMurtry took
me to the American west. James Clavell took me to Asia. Dickens took me - Dickens
was a time machine. Dickens should have been a
southern writer you know. Every book I've ever read that [inaudible] was either a
time machine or a rocket ship. And I hope that, I hope that,
that my books give people that chance you know
of the American south. I think that lots been
written about the old south. Not a lot has been written
that well about the new south. Because it's just not as
much fun to write about. You know it's mean, it's
nasty and it's - just as mean and nasty as the old south
but without the romance. So, trying to write
about the south and in my case the working class
blue collar south has been one of the great challenges and one of the great satisfactions
in my life. And the best thing that
happens is when somebody calls and says you stole
my [inaudible]. You know I live in [inaudible]. Or I you know I live
in Birmingham England and your people are my people. And they're not talking
about [inaudible]. They're talking about
matters of class. And people who pull in nets
in the Pacific Northwest want to fight me over who's
people are tougher you know. So, I hope that they see
the value in the people. And I hope they love the story. >> Katy Duffield: Hi. I'm Katy Duffield and I want to thank you first
for having me here. I'm honored to have Crossings as the Great Reads
selection for Arkansas. I'm the author of more
than 40 books for children. And I write both fiction
and nonfiction for children. But my true passion - I
write for various ages, but my true passion is
children's picture books, books for younger readers. And then my latest
book nonfiction, it's my first nonfiction
picture book is Crossings; Extraordinary Structures
for Extraordinary Animals. And the gorgeous illustrations
in it were done by Mike Orodan. As for Crossings, a few years
ago I read a newspaper article about some underpasses that were
being built in Florida for - that would protect
endangered Florida panthers that were being hit by cars as they cross the
highways in Florida. And these underpasses were built
to help the panthers move safely from one area to another. And I wanted to know more. I found that really fascinating
because I'd not ever heard about these wildlife
crossings before. So, I began my research. And I learned that were
many different types of wildlife crossings that
exist around the world. And some of these that I cover in the book are there are
tunnels in New Zealand where the small blue
penguins cross under to get back
to their nests. There're specific -
specifically built bridges that Christmas Island crabs use
to - for their migration times. And ropes that monkeys in Costa
Rica use to cross busy roads. And also there're even in Massachusetts they
have these tiny tunnels that go underneath the roads
to allow spotted salamanders - animals creatures as small
as spotted salamanders to travel beneath the road to
get from one place to another. And there're many
others as well. And it was - I was just a such
a fascinating topic to me. Once I learned that there were
all these different structures, I felt that would be a wonderful
topic for a picture book. And Crossings was the result. >> Katy Duffield: All right. Thank you for the question. This may sound like a bit of a
copout, I guess but I can't say that there's any one book that
has opened a world for me. Because there was so
many infinite worlds to discover in books. And explore every time we
turned the pages of any book, there's an opportunity
to learn and grow. So, I feel like every book that I read it opens a
world for me in some way. But then the picture book
lover that I am today I'd like to share some recent
picture books that opened worlds for me and that I
believe will open worlds for many children as well. One of them being the
animal lover in me, and I hope animal lovers
in many kids I'm sure. This is called 14
Monkeys A Rainforest Rhyme by Melissa Stewart and the
art is by Steve Jenkins. And it's a beautiful,
amazing book that just discussed 14 monkeys
that live in a particular area. And I think it's something
that kids will really enjoy. And it opens up that
natural world for kids and for animal lovers
to learn more. And also, I have a book
called Thank You Omu. And it's by Oge Mora. She did the art and the words. And it opens a world of
sharing and caring for others. It's a beautiful
fictional story. One of my favorite
books right now that shows you know
just the love. The way to love and
care for others. And another one that's pretty
new and not - it hasn't been out too long is called
All of Us by Kathy Erskine and illustrated by
Alexandra Boiger. And it's a beautiful
book that opens up the important
world of belonging. And showing how even
though we're all different, we're all the same. So another book I would
really recommend that opens, opens worlds to your heart. And one final one is Alma
Fullerton's No More Plastic. She's both the author
and the illustrator. And what is really
cool about this book, it's a book about activism. Opens up the world of
activism to kids and adults. And shows how we
can make changes that can make a difference
in the world. And that one of things
that's really cool about this book is Alma
did the illustrations all with recycled plastic
or plastic pieces. It's about you know it's about
reducing our use of plastics and - but it's a really
beautiful book to open the world to show young readers what they
can do when they have a cause and you know have something that
they want to, that they want to work toward to make
the world a better place. As far as my books,
helping - sorry. As far as my books
helping to open worlds, like I said I write a lot - most of the picture
books I've written so far have been
fictional books. So, and a lot them are humorous
and I think there's a place in the world for humor
to open worlds for kids that are you know that are
facing hard, hard times. And then I have been writing
more nonfiction books. And Like I said many of
those are about animals and nature and that type thing. So, hopefully that will open,
open new worlds to subjects like Crossings that people
don't know a lot about yet. >> Carter Goodrich:
It's Carter Goodrich. And my book is Nobody
Hugs a Cactus. I have one of those final dreams
of the night, one - a couple - well, several years ago now
where it was just an image or a tableau of this
cactus sort of leaning out with its mouth open wide. It was a little frightening
actually. But I woke up with
that in my mind. And I thought well, there
must be a story in that. And so I proceeded
to put one together. And the idea of setting
in the dessert was - made a lot of sense
for me because I'm - I think I approach these things
more visually than as a writer. And I liked the idea
of an ecstatic stage with this plant basically
not moving. But a story ahs to
be told so it's going to be the world moving
around him. And it was kind of
fun to stage it. I enjoyed that quite a bit. And having various
characters passing by and the central character
Hank, this cactus just stays in his pot, in his window. And he's an unpleasant little
fella in the beginning. Well, pretty much
throughout until the end. It's pretty much
autobiographical I think in a lot of ways. The story, it's - I'm
- I've been living and working alone
for most of my life. So, I've had to watch
myself in terms of not becoming this strange guy
in town who's yelling at people through his window or
anything like that. And I - so, I - the
most difficult part of the story was trying to
figure out a proper ending. And with the help of my editor,
at Simon and Schuster I - we managed to hammer
something out. And I think it worked
pretty well. That's my book, basically. >> Carter Goodrich: The, the
books that I was familiar with in - growing up,
my father was a painter. And we - he loved to read a
lot of the classics to us, the illustrated classics. N.C. Wyeth and Martha
Rackham and artists like that. But - and I just loved pouring
through them and disappearing into the paintings
while he read. So, I felt like I traveled
the world in that respect. It was, it was, it was really
my favorite time of day, in the evening when he'd
pull these books out and - like Treasure Island and
Kidnapped and King Arthur. All these great old stories
that were taking place at different times in
history and different places. So, it was a wonderful
experience for me as a little kid in
Washington D.C. And traveling in that respect. I think that my books
I'm not so sure that they take people
into the world. I think what has surprised me by doing them is the reactions I
get from kids and their parents and their grandparents which
I never really expected to affect some of these
kids the way they have. And I'm pretty much - I'm not
a very positive happy guy. But - and my humor's always
- or my way of dealing with life has always been
more on the dark side. I found that that has - it has
a place in children's books. But it can't overwhelm them. And to my surprise it was
the things that were kind of sending a positive message. And helping, helping a
kid navigate the world in that respect, that I
was hearing back about. And it suddenly became -
it was a revelation for me. And I began to - I think
it's changed me a lot, the reactions of
these youngsters. And the things they see in it
and the things they're learning from them and the
humor they find in it. It's been great. I feel like I've improved
as a person [inaudible] just by having this opportunity to
get these stories out to kids. I'm not like that
little cactus anymore. I've - I have changed
for the better. And I think that's how they've
taken me up into the world. That's, that's pretty much
the most I can say about it. >> Jessica Lanan: So,
my name is Jessica Lanan and I am the author and
illustrator of The Fisherman and the Whale, which
I actually have here. So, I'll hold it up for you. And this is my first book as
an author and illustrator. And it is a wordless book that
tells a story of a fisherman who goes out and finds a whale. And ends up rescuing that whale. And the story idea came to me because I had been reading
a little bit about a story of rescue - well, several
stories actually in the news. And one particular rescue
off the coast of California where a fisherman helped
with the rescue of the whale and got the opportunity to
look into the whales eye. And he had this moment where
he felt really connected to the whale. And he felt empathy with
it, that this is a creature with it's own feelings,
with it's own opinions. And then that idea just kind of
stewed in the back of my mind. And it was when I was
listening to a piece of music that had a lot of cello sounds. It was very whale-y sounding. And I just got the idea
for this - making a book out of this, came all at once. And then it was off to the races
with figuring out the pacing and making a dummy book
and all that kind of stuff. And then figuring out how to
tell this story without words. And that was important to me because the whale has
it's own language. Whales sing, they have
a beautiful language which is very complex. And so do we. And I thought if I wrote English
words on there it would sort of pull the whole story into
the realm of human and out of the realm of whale. But if it's visual,
if it's pictures - it's not that whales
actually read books, but they do look
at things though. I thought that maybe it
was little more universal. So, that is The Fisherman
and the Whale. >> Jessica Lanan: I was
read to by my mother. She read us - I have fond
memories of listening to her read us The Hobbit and
some longer stories like that. And then I had a
collection of picture books that my grandfather would send. Every Christmas and every
birthday he would send the most beautiful book he could find. They were just beloved to me. I loved to pour over
the pictures and imagine myself
in this other place. I loved the fairy tales
and kind of folk tales like St. George and the Dragon. I would try to copy
the dragon pictures with the fire coming out. It was so exciting. And I loved Greek mythology
and those kind of wacky stories of all these different
characters and having different
kinds of drama. Enjoyed those. What else? I guess books you
know they were a way to see new places
and travel in time. And they were also a way to
travel into someone else's mind, into someone else's experience
and get a sense of what is it like to be this other person. Or you know kind of
step into the mind of the author for a minute. Because every, every
author - I don't know if every book is a little
bit autobiographical. But every author puts a little
bit of them self in every one of their books in
different ways. Like The Fisherman
and the Whale. Sure it's about nature
on the one hand. But I was, I was
realizing why this idea of the eye appealed
to me so much. And that spread, the two
eyes are facing one another. And - let's see if
I can find it. Show and tell here. But it's this idea
of being seen. Of like having someone
notice your voice and care about, care about you. And kind of see how
you're doing. And I guess that idea is one
that really appeals to me, is that we have this
capacity as human beings through story telling and
through listening to story, to see one another and
to connect one another. Which is one of the things
I love the most about books. >> Bridget Heos: Hi. I'm Bridget Heos. I wrote the book Treemendous. I've written more than 100 books for kids both fiction
and nonfiction. And the idea for
Treemendous came when I was with my little daughter
walking around the neighborhood. And there was a bumper
crop for acorns that year which I later read
happens from time to time. And the neat thing is
it seemed to coincide with resurgence of wildlife. And we lived in the city. Not a very natural area at all. A lot of concrete. But my daughter loved books. Or I'm sorry - ducks. And this duck family happened
to move in at the same time and we got to watch
the babies grow up. And it was just a special time. So, I wanted to write something
to appreciate that oak trees. Because I read that
ducks do eat acorns. So, maybe they were related. I wanted the tree to write
the story about itself. Because for one thing that's
how I see the world is that everything has a point
of view and a story to tell. And also, I think it adds
a little bit of suspense. If I'm writing a story about
an acorn that becomes a tree, I know it's going
to become a tree and you know it's
going to become a tree. But the acorn doesn't know that. And I think that's true in life,
that maybe others have faith in where you're going but
you not - may not have that faith for yourself. And you just have to
take things step by step. And so that's how
I wrote the book. It's illustrated
by Mike Ciccotello. And my favorite illustrations
of his are when the tree is still a acorn. I just think it's so cute. So, that's Treemendous. >> Bridget Heos:
I'll tell a book that kind of reopened my world. It was when I already
had children. And it was the Dinosaurs
of Waterhouse Hawkins. You can see it's well worn. It did lose the cover, but
I'll show you the title. This is a book that
my son loved. I - when I was little,
I loved fiction books and I loved the world
of Beatrix Potter. And you know I would
[inaudible] the little animals and their clothes,
I think I knew it. I knew that they
had a double life. But my son, when he was
little loved nonfiction. And the neat thing about
that is I kind of lost sight of the magic of the world. And his love of nonfiction
reintroduced me to the magic of the world. But the magic of the real world. And how incredible that we live
on a planet that had dinosaurs. And even today that has whales and on a smaller scale
lightening bugs and flies. We just have such - we live
on such an amazing planet. And reading these nonfiction
books opened my eyes to that so I wasn't' walking around
with my eyes closed anymore. And that's what got me
started writing nonfiction. And So, I hope in my own books that I'm sharing the
wonder of the world. And just even if terrible things
are happening in your life or you feel really bad, just to belike well we
have, we have water. Like we have air. It's amazing. And so, I like to think
about that myself. And hopefully my books
instill or reinforce that sense of wonder in kids too. >> Casey Rislov:
I'm Casey Rislov and I'm an author
of six books so far. And Rowdy Randy's the
book that's won this distinguished award. And it was my fifth book. And Zachary Pullen
is the illustrator. And he's also from Wyoming. And he's won this award before
which I thought was kind of neat about Dee and the Mammoth so. This book Rowdy Randy
kind of came about with I loved
animals in the west. Like your bison, your
elk, and all that. And I don't really
feel like there's a lot of books out there about that. I keep - when I go to parks and
stuff, I see the same animals, or I mean the same books. And so I thought it would
fun to do - show some more of the west with something new. And build it in size from small
to large, like the horn toad. You know and then
the rattlesnake. Everybody's scared
of the rattlesnake. And then the bison of course. Which people think
you know are furry and you know, let's go pet it. But it's not. Anyways, so, but I also
wanted to collide it with another idea of chaos. It's kind of fun to read
those books, that just build, and build, and build where
there's just so much going on. And I think in the animal world,
as we know even having pets, that that can happen
pretty easily. So, it builds up to
a stampede in my book which is a pretty big deal. I can't imagine trying
to control that. You know 1,200 pounds
of cow running around. And that's just one. And then you have a bunch. And they don't really know
what causes a stampede. They don't you know it could be
lightening that frightens them. It could be a predator
that's going after them. And in my book, which you
know could darn happen, is a horsefly. So, my book is about all
about a horsefly causing that kind of trouble. And it's at their ranch is
kind of where we put it. Because if you come out west
you will - you see these - people on ranches do
see these same animals that you would see you know
in Yellowstone and stuff. They might have bison
hanging out. They feed the elk and stuff. So, it was kind of fun to
show what a horsefly would do in a situation you
know all these animals to choose from, to be around. >> Casey Rislov: My mother
was a very big reader. You could find her on a
Saturday just reading books. So, for her she always
had stacks of books for us everywhere. And one of them - a
couple of the collections that I really liked, I know
it sounds kind of funny for my age group,
but Dr. Seuss books. I loved it, I loved it for
all the creatures he invented. And I loved it for all the
silly words he made up too. I mean for me it was just
that world, that world. And that's a lot of fun. My favorite of his was A Walk
- The Wocket in a Pocket. I just, I don't know. I would stare at those
pictures all day long. And then another set of series
of books that my mom got, she - you could do clubs at the time
for these particular groups. Dr. Seuss and then
the Disney books. And my favorite one for
like the Disney books when it would come
in, I just loved when Mickey Mouse was Aladdin
and the Aladdin series. So, anyway. So, that what sticks
out to me, what I loved. And it was the adventure I think
in Disney that you know a lot of their stuff is
really built around that. For Wordy Randy I kind of told
you it's about kind of the - the parks and all those
animals that people love to visit, including me. I mean l live right there
but I can't get enough of seeing these animals. They're you know
they're majestic. They're dangerous. And man do they live
in a tough world. I can't imagine living
in that kind of environment all year round. So, they - it's just
an interesting topic for me to start with. Just to go out there
and watch them. And you can find these
animals throughout all the western states. But again, you have to
get off that manmade path, those highways and stuff. Or go into the parks
to see those stuff. So, I think my book
kind of opens it up to what those
animals look up close. And I think Zachary Pullen
did a really nice job - he did a realistic
portrait of these animals. Bison and stuff looks
really neat up close. Because Rowdy Randy being
a horsefly of course, you know she thinks she's
pretty tough because according to my book, she's the toughest
cowgirl in the west so. She would get right
on that bison's nose and have her little tough pose. You know like I got this. So. And then another part
of it besides the animals that this book, this book does because of course she's
a horsefly is the bug. And so, bugs are a nuisance. So, it kind of gives you
that whole what does a day in the life look like
in a horsefly or any bug for that matter that
is bothering us. >> Katy Duffield:
Life in the pandemic. We've all been closed up so
much adults and children. And it's so important for -
in my opinion to get outside to be able to walk
and just enjoy. Maybe even hike. And I think Crossings although
we can't hike where all the - maybe where all the
wildlife crossings are, we can still get
outside and view nature. And just you know get
that breath of fresh air. With Crossings I've
had quite a bit of interaction on my website. I have several YouTube videos
on there of the actual, some actual wildlife
crossings in the world. One in Banff in Canada
and different places. And I think people have really
enjoyed reading the book and then going on the website
and viewing some of those videos to - that show the actual
animals using the crossings. It's, it's pretty fascinating. Because your - you might
be surprised you know by all the things that
you see, the different, different sized animals
and different - the variety of animals. And that sort of thing. So, you know hopefully that
is something that getting out in the natural world
will help, will help kids and adults cope with
the pandemic. >> Jessica Lanan: That,
that's a great question about the natural world
and how it guides us through times that are tough. I don't live near the ocean. My books about the ocean. But I live in Colorado. And we've got incredible access. I live in Boulder Colorado and just there are
trails everywhere. And we have wonderful
access to nature here. And during the pandemic it
was particularly fortunate because when we couldn't
go do normal activities or social activities, we
at least had this outlet like to be able to go hiking
and to connect to nature and see you know trees and
animals and just be outside. And it's made me aware of
what a privilege that is. And how not everyone
has access to them. And that my hope is that having
grown up in that environment and kind of feeling it in my
bones, I can create images that will at least give readers,
give children the chance to see places that maybe
they can't' travel to. And to feel that sense of beauty
and appreciation for nature that we can take for granted
out here in the west sometimes. >> Jessica Lanan: Anybody else? >> Bridget Heos:
Well, for me reading about the natural world
is comforting in a crisis. And it's twofold. For one thing, if a scientist
is researching a problem to me that shows they care about it. So, let's say a loved
one has a disease and it's not very well
researched even though it's common. Well, that tells me why
don't people care about this? Why aren't they researching it? But if I see that they
are researching it, I say yeah, they get it. They care and they're
researching it. And then the second part of it
is that once they research it and understand it, that's the
first step to tackling it. And you know treating it. Like in the case of the virus,
once we know where it's coming from it's like a
villain in a story. Now you've got them. Once you know what
their motivation is, it's like oh, I get it. I can talk them out
of this you know. And so, with the virus
once they understood it, they could give us advice
and create a vaccine. So, I love reading scientific
articles about crisis and problems because it
shows that level of caring. And then it's also
that first step to doing something about it. >> Casey Rislov: Mine talks
about it too where just like yours Bridget on the -
that it's healing both ways and the research part of it. Because life outdoors is
healing, I think in itself. And you know it's neat
to watch that ladybug and watch the seasons change. Those leaves and stuff. So, I feel like there's always
new knowledge to be found. And the best way to do it
is just to step outdoors. And so, then that's when you
can do your kind of figuring out what's make - getting
your [inaudible] for the day. And then you can go back to
the book and go research it like you were talking about. Or go you know find some
more information on that. And whether you go to the
library or look online. And then - or the other way. You open up a great
book about the outdoors. It's going to probably send you
out there to go check it out. And it's just it's a very
healing process I think both ways, the natural world. >> Carter Goodrich: Bridget,
you made a point about the - how extraordinary
this planet is. And the unbelievable
range of life, plants and animals, insects. And that - this has been
- I've been thinking about that a lot especially
since all the business with the traveling you know
this idea to travel to mars. And all the excitement
over that. You know maybe we can start over
on this dead poisonous planet. And I - it's made me see
this planet so much more now when I, when I go out. It's, it's an extraordinary
place. Just you can just be
in a local neighborhood and take one square
foot of somebody's lawn. The amount of life
in that square foot, the impossible number
of species of bugs and plants is just mind blowing. And it is an extraordinarily
beautiful, beautiful unusual, unique place. So, I think that there is
a lot of healing in that. But there's also a lot - for
me I mean like when you look at what's happening right now,
it's alarming and it's sad. And I'm glad that we're
finally paying attention to it. But I wonder you know if we've
waited a little too long. This unbelievable jewel of a
planet is in peril right now. Not to be a downer or anything. I know this is supposed
to be all that. But I think just people do need to pay a little bit more
attention in where we live. It's just it's mind boggling. Even in my neighborhood
here in LA just going out for a walk is -I feel like
I'm seeing everything now. I'm really seeing everything. And it - it's quite something. I hope, I hope more people
are experiencing that with all that we're going
through right now. >> Rick Bragg: [inaudible] ran
into time where - let's face it. Crowds will kill you. Taking the walk through the
grocery store can be dangerous. And then especially in my
state where people have fought against the signs
of this disease. So, I found that the
best place in the world to be is under a tree. I have worked in the pasture
more than I have since I was 16. And I find myself running a
saw and burning brush piles and clearing up damage. We had tornadoes. We're about to have one outside
now if y'all are listening good. And that notion of just - I spent probably 15 minutes the
other day watching a rabbit. You know. Just sitting
there trying not to move, watching a rabbit. Then it occurred to me it
wasn't the damn rabbit. But just standing at the edge
of the pond, counting minutes. I stopped the other day and I'm
a mean old curmudgeonly man. And I stopped the other day
on the same [inaudible] road in northeast Alabama,
to get a turtle our of the middle of the road. And I remember at the last
minute, you always have to ask the turtle which
direction it wanted to go. So, I had to remember to make
sure I didn't' just defeat the whole purpose of putting the
turtle so that it'd just have to do the whole journey
over again. And I think being out in that
natural world has been a, not a cure, but a
balm for all this. And reading about it
is the next best thing. I read about 50 pages of Call
of the Wild by Jack London. And I was 14 years old again. I just think it's a
wonderful, wonderful balm. >> Carter Goodrich:
I noticed that both - I lost both of my parents a few
years ago and toward the end of their lives, they - I'd spend
time with them, and they were - had become obsessed with trees. And the end it's
really all they, they cared about
or talked about. And I took my father out
for lunch and wheeled out him out of a hospital. He was just watching these, these huge trees blowing
in the, in the wind. And it was interesting. It was unexpected. I didn't quite understand it. But both in their own way
had become just really taken with trees all of a sudden. And I find now suddenly
that I'm beginning to understand it oddly. That I pay more and
more attention to them. And there's a, there is a
great comfort that the exude. They're, they're the most
patient creatures you can imagine. And they've seen,
the older ones, have seen so much
swirling around them. All the craziness
of our species, that there's something
fascinating about it to me. I - I'm happiest now when
I'm just sitting somewhere where I have a good view
of a tree or several. And I think I could
do that all day now. So. Yeah, I - this has been a, this has been a difficult
few years for everybody. Not just the COVID but I think
everything that came before it. It's hard to, to
find a way back. You know a lot of my friends
are having a lot of trouble. And I - maybe that's the
best route back right now, at least I think it is for
me, to spend more time out. I don't that it - I don't see
where books really come into it. But actually it's
one of those things that it's easy enough to do. And pretty worthwhile
I think at this point. I feel like I've had - I've kind of lost faith right
now in everything else. My own, my own species, I think. It's just, it's just
been a bewildering time. But I keep taking
this off point so. I'll stop talking. Any of you can take the mic. >> Casey Rislov: Well, I was
just going to say another point. I think about nature
that everybody's kind of touched too is
that curiosity piece. Even if you are just
looking at a tree. And that you get that
childlike self about yourself because you start
wondering about things. And that was one of my
favorite parts of Rowdy Randy of all my books that I've
done, is then I had to dive into okay well if I'm going
to write about a horsefly, I better know more about a
horsefly then it just bites. So, I think the one thing when you are outdoors is
you do, you get childlike. You got 100 questions. And I have a 12 year
old right now. I'm getting a lot
questions nonstop. So, my nine year too. But right now it's like
my 12 year old's kind of doing a little more. But you know it's
like the horsefly. Did any of you guys know that only the females
are the one that bites. She's got to get that blood. She's got to get that
protein for her eggs. So, I just think a part of. >> Rick Bragg: That is
not at all surprising. >> Casey Rislov: Right. Oh, I make them stop and think
about it for a minute though. I'm like okay, what
do you think? I like to throw it back at him. But I do, I think I don't. Nature brings you
back to that slowness that Carter's talking about. That childlike curiosity and then you can just
take it from there. You know. And find that. And that's for me,
that was the best part of why ready Rowdy Randy. And when I go visit
schools and stuff, I don't just read the book. You want to go into
some of that background. Hey, did you know? Did you know that those
cowboys really can stop that 1,200 pound cow? I mean look at your teacher try
to wrangle you 30 kids in line. I go think about those
cowboys wrangling that. So, it - I don't know. I think it's kind of
fun to learn about that. So, I find myself
act very childlike when I'm doing these
children's books. >> Rick Bragg: If you do a dog
book and I think every writer on earth is officially
[inaudible] except those who [inaudible]old soul. And I guess that
would be cat people. But I - if you did
a dog book you have to read a lot into the dog. You know you - because dogs
don't give very good quotes. So, you have to read a lot into why the dog does
what the dog does. And the bad thing about that - maybe a good thing considering
what we're talking about. About taking a refuge somehow in nature is now whenever I
see any animal of any kind, I try to interpret
what it's thinking. [ Music ]
