Janisse Ray – författare

Janisse Ray was a babe in arms when a boat of her father’s construction cracked open and went down in the mighty Altamaha River. Tucked in a life preserver, she washed onto a sandbar as the craft sank from view. That first baptism began a lifelong relationship with a stunning and powerful river that almost nobody knows.The Altamaha rises dark and mysterious in southeast Georgia. It is deep and wide bordered by swamps. Its corridor contains an extraordinary biodi­versity, including many rare and endangered species, which led the Nature Conservancy to designate it as one of the world’s last great places.The Altamaha is Ray’s river, and from childhood she dreamed of paddling its entire length to where it empties into the sea. Drifting into Darien begins with an account of finally making that journey, turning to medita­tions on the many ways we accept a world that contains both good and evil. With praise, biting satire, and hope, Ray contemplates transformation and attempts with every page to settle peacefully into the now.Though commemorating a history that includes logging, Ray celebrates “a culture that sprang from the flatwoods, which required a judicious use of nature.” She looks in vain for an ivorybill woodpecker but is equally eager to see any of the imperiled species found in the river basin: spiny mussel, American oystercatcher, Radford’s mint, Alabama milkvine. The book explores both the need and the possibilities for conservation of the river and the surrounding forests and wetlands. As in her groundbreaking Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, Ray writes an account of her beloved river that is both social history and natural history, understanding the two as inseparable, particularly in the rural corner of Georgia that she knows best. Ray goes looking for wisdom and finds a river.

Formed by the confluence of the Ocmulgee and Oconee Rivers, the Altamaha is the largest free-flowing river on the East Coast and drains its third-largest watershed. It has been designated as one of the Nature Conservancy’s seventy-five Last Great Places because of its unique character and rich natural diversity. In evocative photography and elegant prose, Altamaha captures the distinctive beauty of this river and offers a portrait of the man who has become its improbable guardian.Few people know the Altamaha better than James Holland. Raised in Cochran, Georgia, Holland spent years on the river fishing, hunting, and working its coastal reaches as a commercial crabber. Witnessing a steady decline in blue crab stocks, Holland doggedly began to educate himself on the area’s environmental and political issues, reaching a deep conviction that the only way to preserve the way of life he loved was to protect the river and its watershed. In 1999, he began serving as the first Altamaha Riverkeeper, finding new purpose in protecting the river and raising awareness about its plight with people in his community and beyond.At first Holland used photography to document pollution and abuse, but as he came to appreciate and understand the Altamaha in new ways, his photographs evolved, focusing more on the natural beauty he fought to save. More than 230 color photographs capture the area’s majestic landscapes and stunning natural diversity, including a generous selection of some the 234 species of rare plants and animals in the region. In their essays, Janisse Ray offers a profile of Holland’s transformation from orphan and troubled high school dropout to river advocate, and Dorinda G. Dallmeyer celebrates the biological richness and cultural heritage that the Altamaha offers to all Georgians.

Janisse Ray was a babe in arms when a boat of her father’s construction cracked open and went down in the mighty Altamaha River. Tucked in a life preserver, she washed onto a sandbar as the craft sank from view. That first baptism began a lifelong relationship with a stunning and powerful river that almost nobody knows.The Altamaha rises dark and mysterious in southeast Georgia. It is deep and wide bordered by swamps. Its corridor contains an extraordinary biodi­versity, including many rare and endangered species, which led the Nature Conservancy to designate it as one of the world’s last great places.The Altamaha is Ray’s river, and from childhood she dreamed of paddling its entire length to where it empties into the sea. Drifting into Darien begins with an account of finally making that journey, turning to medita­tions on the many ways we accept a world that contains both good and evil. With praise, biting satire, and hope, Ray contemplates transformation and attempts with every page to settle peacefully into the now.Though commemorating a history that includes logging, Ray celebrates “a culture that sprang from the flatwoods, which required a judicious use of nature.” She looks in vain for an ivorybill woodpecker but is equally eager to see any of the imperiled species found in the river basin: spiny mussel, American oystercatcher, Radford’s mint, Alabama milkvine. The book explores both the need and the possibilities for conservation of the river and the surrounding forests and wetlands. As in her groundbreaking Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, Ray writes an account of her beloved river that is both social history and natural history, understanding the two as inseparable, particularly in the rural corner of Georgia that she knows best. Ray goes looking for wisdom and finds a river.

Janisse Ray was a babe in arms when a boat of her father's construction cracked open and went down in the mighty Altamaha River. Tucked in a life preserver, she washed onto a sandbar as the craft sank from view. That first baptism began a lifelong relationship with a stunning and powerful river that almost nobody knows.The Altamaha rises dark and mysterious in southeast Georgia. It is deep and wide bordered by swamps. Its corridor contains an extraordinary biodi-versity, including many rare and endangered species, which led the Nature Conservancy to designate it as one of the world's last great places.The Altamaha is Ray's river, and from childhood she dreamed of paddling its entire length to where it empties into the sea. Drifting into Darien begins with an account of finally making that journey, turning to medita-tions on the many ways we accept a world that contains both good and evil. With praise, biting satire, and hope, Ray contemplates transformation and attempts with every page to settle peacefully into the now.Though commemorating a history that includes logging, Ray celebrates "e;a culture that sprang from the flatwoods, which required a judicious use of nature."e; She looks in vain for an ivorybill woodpecker but is equally eager to see any of the imperiled species found in the river basin: spiny mussel, American oystercatcher, Radford's mint, Alabama milkvine. The book explores both the need and the possibilities for conservation of the river and the surrounding forests and wetlands. As in her groundbreaking Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, Ray writes an account of her beloved river that is both social history and natural history, understanding the two as inseparable, particularly in the rural corner of Georgia that she knows best. Ray goes looking for wisdom and finds a river.

From the memories of a childhood marked by extreme poverty, mental illness, and restrictive fundamentalist Christian rules, Janisse Ray crafted a “heartfelt and refreshing” (New York Times) memoir that has inspired thousands to embrace their beginnings, no matter how humble, and to fight for the places they love. This new edition updates and contextualizes the story for a new generation and a wider audience desperately searching for stories of empowerment and hope.Ray grew up in a junkyard along U.S. Highway 1, hidden from Florida-bound travelers by hulks of old cars. In language at once colloquial, elegiac, and informative, Ray redeems her home and her people, while also cataloging the source of her childhood hope: the Edenic longleaf pine forests, where orchids grow amid wiregrass at the feet of widely spaced, lofty trees. Today, the forests exist in fragments, cherished and threatened, and the South of her youth is gradually being overtaken by golf courses and suburban development.A contemporary classic, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood is a clarion call to protect the cultures and ecologies of every childhood.

Looking for adventure and continuing a process of self-discovery, Janisse Ray has repeatedly set out to immerse herself in wildness, to be wild, and to learn what wildness can teach us. From overwintering with monarch butterflies in Mexico to counting birds in Belize, the stories in Wild Spectacle capture her luckiest moments—ones of heart-pounding amazement, discovery of romance, and moving toward living more wisely. In Ray’s worst moments she crosses boundaries to encounter danger and embrace sadness.Anchored firmly in two places Ray has called home—Montana and southern Georgia—the sixteen essays here span a landscape from Alaska to Central America, connecting common elements in the ecosystems of people and place. One of her abiding griefs is that she has missed the sights of explorers like Bartram, Sacagawea, and Carver: flocks of passenger pigeons, routes of wolves, herds of bison. She craves a wilder world and documents encounters that are rare in a time of disappearing habitat, declining biodiversity, and a world too slowly coming to terms with climate change. In an age of increasingly virtual, urban life, Ray embraces the intentionality of trying to be a better person balanced with seeking out natural spectacle, abundance, and less trammeled environments. She questions what it means to travel into the wild as a woman, speculates on the impacts of ecotourism and travel in general, questions assumptions about eating from the land, and appeals to future generations to make substantive change.Wild Spectacle explores our first home, the wild earth, and invites us to question its known and unknown beauties and curiosities.

Looking for adventure and continuing a process of self-discovery, Janisse Ray has repeatedly set out to immerse herself in wildness, to be wild, and to learn what wildness can teach us. From overwintering with monarch butterflies in Mexico to counting birds in Belize, the stories in Wild Spectacle capture her luckiest moments—ones of heart-pounding amazement, discovery of romance, and moving toward living more wisely. In Ray’s worst moments she crosses boundaries to encounter danger and embrace sadness.Anchored firmly in two places Ray has called home—Montana and southern Georgia—the sixteen essays here span a landscape from Alaska to Central America, connecting common elements in the ecosystems of people and place. One of her abiding griefs is that she has missed the sights of explorers like Bartram, Sacagawea, and Carver: flocks of passenger pigeons, routes of wolves, herds of bison. She craves a wilder world and documents encounters that are rare in a time of disappearing habitat, declining biodiversity, and a world too slowly coming to terms with climate change.In an age of increasingly virtual, urban life, Ray embraces the intentionality of trying to be a better person balanced with seeking out natural spectacle, abundance, and less trammeled environments. She questions what it means to travel into the wild as a woman, speculates on the impacts of ecotourism and travel in general, questions assumptions about eating from the land, and appeals to future generations to make substantive change.Wild Spectacle explores our first home, the wild earth, and invites us to question its known and unknown beauties and curiosities.

There is no despair in a seed. There's only life, waiting for the right conditions-sun and water, warmth and soil-to be set free. Everyday, millions upon millions of seeds lift their two green wings.At no time in our history have Americans been more obsessed with food. Options including those for local, sustainable, and organic food-seem limitless. And yet, our food supply is profoundly at risk. Farmers and gardeners a century ago had five times the possibilities of what to plant than farmers and gardeners do today; we are losing untold numbers of plant varieties to genetically modified industrial monocultures. In her latest work of literary nonfiction, award-winning author and activist Janisse Ray argues that if we are to secure the future of food, we first must understand where it all begins: the seed.The Seed Underground is a journey to the frontier of seed-saving. It is driven by stories, both the author's own and those from people who are waging a lush and quiet revolution in thousands of gardens across America to preserve our traditional cornucopia of food by simply growing old varieties and eating them. The Seed Underground pays tribute to time-honored and threatened varieties, deconstructs the politics and genetics of seeds, and reveals the astonishing characters who grow, study, and save them.

Why not work on building the deepest relationship of your life?That relationship is with your place.◆◆◆Maybe you feel out of place. Ungrounded. New to the suburbs, lost in the city, lonely in the rural.Maybe you want to get outside more. Learn the names of birds.Maybe you're already in love with your place and you want to listen to trees. Hear the stars singing.Whatever your situation, this book seeks to answer one major question, How to learn to be in place.How to love our place. How to witness our place and have our place witness us.◆◆◆Journey in Place contains 52 explorations.Each includesa tiny essay on some aspect of placea feet-on-the-ground exercisea writing prompthandouts and worksheetsan occasional recipe or photographa reading listencouragement to get outside.That's 52 ideas on how to belong to your place.◆◆◆Wondering how this book came to be?One fall after the pandemic, I was giving a talk on a college campus when a young person in the front row raised their hand and asked a question I'd never been asked.How do you learn to be in place?The student had been told daily that place doesn't matter. We destroy places. We homogenize them. We focus on built environments, technology, and social interaction. The student sensed she was missing something. What would a place-based life look like? How does one learn to be in place?Yes, I said, we are made of place. We are meant to experience living in a human body within a landscape, to deeply know Earth's cycles, to live within those cycles. Placelessness shows up in us as a kind of homelessness.The student's question stayed with me, and I decided to do something.◆◆◆I created the book Journey in Place, a manual for♥ getting to know a place♥ falling in love with place♥ living well in place◆◆◆Where you live does not matter.Eighty percent of us live in highly populated cities and can attest to the presence of, and accessibility to, wildness. Vast amounts of life and evidence of native ecosystems can be found in cities.  ln this book I make a directed effort to think about place differently, as the environment around us.◆◆◆Some folks who wish to journey in place experience mobility and other physical challenges. In many of these explorations, you are asked to get outside. If at all possible, do. A spot on a porch or deck or balcony is fine. If you can't get outside, position yourself by an open window.◆◆◆I believe that we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of our understanding of place.I think that the place of our nativity never quits calling to us, as if we were homing pigeons. I believe we're made of place, elementally, that it lives in our DNA. Sometimes I believe that our places choose us, not the other way around. I believe that climate change is destroying places rapidly.◆◆◆7 Things You Can Get From Journey in Place--✓ You can become a scholar of your place.✓ You can deepen your relationship to it.✓ You can pinpoint where your heart intersects with landscape.✓ You can build more meaning into your life.✓ You can strengthen the fabric of life around you and find a support network in the Earth itself.✓ You can heal a soul-wound.✓ You can find a sense of belonging.This suggests that you could be a very different person in a year.And why not?Why not bring a global environmental ethic down to the specific and personal?Why not find a way to belong?

This manual is a transformative guide into the heart of writing. In CRAFT & CURRENT, acclaimed author Janisse Ray unveils the twin pillars essential for every aspiring writer: mastering the craft and tapping into currents of magic.Drawing from years of experience, Ray expertly navigates the intricacies of the writing craft, offering practical advice and techniques to hone writing skills. From crafting compelling scenes to making writing come alive, each chapter is a treasure. Ray guides you through the art of narrative craft.True mastery, however, as Ray says, extends beyond technique—it requires a connection to the intangible, the mystical currents that flow through the creative process. Ray delves into this elusive realm, exploring how to access the wellspring of inspiration, infusing your writing with that ineffable spark that transcends the ordinary.Moreover, Ray passionately believes that writing is not merely an act of creation but a transformative force capable of reshaping both the writer's world and the world at large. Through the power of storytelling, writers wield the ability to challenge norms, inspire change, and illuminate truths that resonate across time and space.With CRAFT & CURRENT, you'll learn not only how to wield the tools of the trade but also how to harness the enchantment that lies at the heart of storytelling. Whether you're a seasoned wordsmith or just beginning your literary journey, this book will empower you to unlock your full potential as a writer and navigate the currents of magic, transforming both yourself and the world around you.

Ecology of a Cracker Childhood is a memoir that weaves the story of one woman's coming of age with the longleaf pine flatwoods of the southeastern U.S. Born and raised in a junkyard on the coastal plain of southern Georgia, author Janisse Ray renders her hardscrabble childhood—marked by poverty, a deeply religious family, and a father struggling to overcome mental illness—with honesty and lyricism. She uses her childhood as a vehicle to bring attention to one of America's most endangered ecosystems. This is an urgent, passionate plea for longleaf pine's survival.This is a book about roots in every sense of the word: the roots of a family, a culture, and a landscape inextricably bound together.With the eye of a naturalist and the heart of a poet, Ray traces the destruction of the longleaf pine forest, which once covered 93 million acres across the South and sustained a rich web of life, from the imperiled red-cockaded woodpecker to the gopher tortoise. By intertwining personal narrative with the ecological history of this vanishing landscape, Ray does something rare and powerful: she makes the loss of a forest feel personal.Published in 1999 and winner of the American Book Award and the Southern Book Critics Circle Award, among many others, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood has earned its place as a landmark of American nature writing as well as Southern literature. It is essential reading for anyone who loves the natural world, values honest and courageous memoir, or seeks to understand the deep connections between land, identity, and culture. A contemporary classic, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood is a call to protect the cultures and ecologies of every childhood.Deeply moving, this book will change the way you see the South—and the earth beneath your feet.