The first SAS Book Club meeting of the new season will be held on September 20th at Hope Lutheran Church from 6:30 to 7:45 pm. We hope you can join us in person or virtually for a discussion of Biophilia (1984) by Edward O. Wilson. Dessert will be provided. Please bring your own hot or cold drink.
Biophilia is considered E.O. Wilson’s most personal book, an evocation of his own response to nature and an eloquent statement of the conservation ethic. Wilson argues that our natural affinity for life—biophilia—is the very essence of our humanity and binds us to all other living species. Wilson was 55 years old when he wrote this slender volume. His kinship with the natural world began as a young boy, exploring the tidepools and woods of Alabama, and continued during decades of fieldwork as a biologist, ecologist, and entomologist. In Biophilia, Wilson chronicles his own process of deepening his affiliation with all life not just as a scientist but as a human being. For Audubon readers of this book, the theme of building deep relationships with nature over a lifetime will feel intuitive, yet you will appreciate Wilson’s personal account of this complicated process. In his case, Wilson’s deep and abiding love of the natural world caused him to swerve his professional efforts mid-career toward public advocacy for endangered wildlife and their habitats.
Cost: $5–$20 hardback or paperback. Also available on Kindle.
Awards: E.O. Wilson won two Pulitzer Prizes—one for On Human Nature (1979), and another for The Ants, with Bert Holldobler (1991).
If you would like to be included in monthly email reminders or want to attend the meeting virtually, please email Elisabeth Swanson at elsswa@gmail.com or call her at (406) 570-8325. For other questions, you can email our other leader, Hilary Johnson, at ralphhilary@gmail.com, or call her at (406) 599-1446.
Meeting dates and reading list for the SAS Book Club 2023-2024 Season
October 11 – Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher by Marina Richie
November 15 – Fen, Bog and Swamps: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis by Annie Proulx
January 17 – Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship by Catherine Raven
February 21 – Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay by Merilyn Simonds
March 20 – The Tiger: A True Tale of Vengeance and Survival by John Valliant
April 17 – Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
