John Muir

John Muir, famous for his naturalist essays and books, was over 70 years old when he wrote "The Yosemite" as a reflection on the beauty of the national park. Muir was a naturalist, so he was highly invested in describing the landscape, flora, and fauna of Yosemite National Park. He even said that "no temple with manmade hands can compare with Yosemite." Muir knew the terrain well, having hiked and climbed Cathedral Peak, Mount Dana, and the old Indian...

In one of his first books, "The Mountains of California", John Muir, famed naturalist, environmentalist, and author, recounts his travels through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Yosemite Valley. First published in 1894, "The Mountains of California" is a captivating and vivid portrait of the raw beauty of this spectacular place. He takes the readers on a tour of the wonders that abound, writing "Go where you may within the bounds of California, mountains...

First published as "An Adventure with a Dog and a Glacier" in 1897 in "The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine" and then expanded into a book and published in 1909, "Stickeen" by American naturalist John Muir is one of literature's most enduring dog stories. Based on a trip he took to Alaska in 1880 with a dog Stickeen and their trek out on a glacier, this short memoir is one of Muir's best-known publications whose enduring appeal has resulted in...

As a student at the University of Wisconsin, John Muir often visited with Dr. Ezra Carr and his family, and the impressionable young man came to regard Mrs. Carr as his spiritual mother. A keen botanist, she shared Muir's passion for nature, and the two formed a lasting bond. After heading west to explore the wonders of Yosemite, the future founder of the Sierra Club and wilderness preservationist wrote many heartfelt letters to Mrs. Carr. In his...

Essayist. Preservationist. Mountain man. Inventor. John Muir may be California's best-known icon. A literary naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club and Yosemite National Park, Muir left his legacy on the landscape and on paper. But the celebrity of John Muir does not tell the whole story. In Essential Muir, for the first time, Muir's selected writings include those that show his ecological vision without ignoring his racism, providing a more complete...

At the age of 29, naturalist John Muir set out alone for a long hike through the rural American South in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. This volume chronicles his path from Indiana across Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida to the Gulf of Mexico. Muir chose the "wildest, leafiest, and least trodden way I could find," sketching plants along the way and recording his delighted encounters with Spanish moss, palmettos,...

In the summer of 1869, John Muir set out from California's Central Valley with a flock of sheep and trekked into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. His journals describe the summer he spent in what would become Yosemite National Park. Celebrating the Sierra's lizards and mountain lions, tall trees and waterfalls, fierce thunderstorms and bears, Muir raises an awareness of nature to a spiritual dimension. John Muir is internationally acknowledged...

Explore nature with Little Muir. --

In the summer of 1984, a small, low-budget film came out of nowhere and unexpectedly debuted at the number one slot at the box office, unseating reigning champion Ghostbusters and making its star, Prince, a household name. By the end of the year, the film was a multiple-award winner, a trend setter in terms of fashion, and recognized on many prominent critical "top ten" lists. Purple Rain: Music on Film explores in detail the behind-the-scenes struggles...