A Fierce Green Fire: Aldo Leopold's Life & Legacy
A Fierce Green Fire: Aldo Leopold's Life and Legacy is an expanded version (with information on the legacies of his ideas and family members) of Lorbiecki's award-winning Aldo Leopold: A Fierce Green Fire.
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AWARDS
Minnesota Book Award, Biography & History
Distinguished Service to History Award, State Historical Society of Wisconsin
New Expanded Edition
Oxford University Press, 2016
llustrated with historic photos
ISBN 978-0-19-996503-8
For anyone interested in wildlife, birds, wilderness areas, parks, ecology, conservation, environmental literature, and ethics, the name Aldo Leopold is sure to pop up. Since first publication, A Fierce Green Fire: Aldo Leopold's Life and Legacy has remained the classic short, inspiring biography of Leopold—the perfect companion to reading his ever popular A Sand County Almanac. Winning numerous awards, this comprehensive account of his life story is dynamic and readable, written in the context of the history of American conservation and illustrated with historic photographs.
Marybeth Lorbiecki has now enriched A Fierce Green Fire in a way no other biography on Leopold has, adding numerous chapters on the ripple effects of his ideas, books, ecological vision, land ethic, and Shack, as well as of the ecological contributions of his children, graduate students, contemporary scholars, and organizations—and the wilderness lands he helped preserve. Lorbiecki weaves these stories and factual information into the biography in a compelling way that keeps both lay and academic readers engaged.
In the introduction to this edition, Lorbiecki makes it clear how much better our lives are because Leopold lived and why today we so radically need what he left us to bring about paradigm shifts in our ethical, economic, and cultural thinking. Instead of losing relevance, Leopold's legacy has gained ever more necessity and traction in the face of contemporary national and world challenges, such as species loss and climate change. Even the phenological studies he started at as a hobby are proving valuable, showing the climatic shifts that have occurred at the Shack lands since the 1930s, recognized by the plants and animals.
The book was recommended in Publishers’ Weekly, Booklist, American Forests, Sierra Club Magazine, School Library Journal, and numerous internet sites, such as About.com: Forestry.
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Interview with the author about Aldo Leopold and this book Marybeth's response to a wonderful nature blog on the nature-oriented “Pines Above the Snow”
Purchase this book from the publisher.
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Also, consider the children's book as well--Things Natural, Wild, and Free: Aldo Leopold
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Reviews
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“David Brower, founder of the Sierra Club Foundation, states that if you have already read A Sand County Almanac [by Aldo Leopold], you will love Aldo Leopold: A Fierce Green Fire. And if you have not read either, ‘it is important that you drop everything and read both.’ I agree with Mr. Brower and recommend this book to anyone looking for an engaging story about a fascinating man and his ideas about nature.”
—Imprint, James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History
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“Those unfamiliar with Leopold will relish this book; those who already know him will enjoy the retelling.” —School Library Journal
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“Here is the plain story of a man’s life, a warm and human biography of Aldo Leopold as son, husband, father, and teacher. Biographer Marybeth Lorbiecki traces Leopold’s life, carefully chronicling his personal experiences without overly imposing her own interpretation of how these experiences shaped his character and eventual writings. Nevertheless, she offer rare insights into the human side of this now-revered conservation philosopher ... For those of us who treasure Aldo Leopold’s writings ... this biography will deepen our understanding of his timeless words ... For those yet to discover Aldo Leopold, this biography is a wonderful way to begin a special journey.”
—American Forests
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“Aldo Leopold (1886-1948) is revered among environmentalists and naturalists for many reasons: as an officer of the U.S. Forest Service, he was instrumental in formulating policies that helped protect wildlands and wild animals; as an activist, he helped found the Wilderness Society and other public-interest organizations; and as a writer, he crafted a number of fine, philosophically charged essays and books, including his famous memoir, A Sand County Almanac. Marybeth Lorbiecki’s overview of Leopold's life addresses each of these contributions in turn, and it does a good job of explaining why Leopold's influence should endure today. Of added interest are the many photographs Lorbiecki has discovered in family and government archives, images that help flesh out a figure who has, in ecological circles, become something of a saint—and, as a result, a little unreal ...”
—Amazon.com