The LATimes, for all its present woes, still has some wonderful writers, and one of my personal favorites is Susan Salter Reynolds, the lightest and most charming of all book reviewers alive today. Blessedly, she has a great interest in the planet.
Here’s her review of three books on the environment from two Sundays ago, concluding with a quote from Lester Rowntree, who is (apparently) known as the female John Muir. The book in question is "Hardy Californians," a book on Californian plants.
I’ll have to check her out. For now (from Hardy Californians):
These notes of mine were taken in all manner of places in California. In storm-lashed spots and in sheltered corners sweet with the repetitious litanies of bird song; on the hot floor of the glistening desert; on sands and bluffs by the sea; in the fragrant chaparral; in the caves and canyons of lonely islands; within the dnese dark shade of Redwoods; on wind-swept mesas; under the hymn-like music of the mountain conifer forests; and on breath-taking summits."
Kit Stolz 