ROGER GOSDEN

The author celebrates a love of nature and science in this collection of 40 essays and memoirs. They reveal deep curiosity about biology, including our fellow creatures, and his concern for planetary and human health. Not a science book for scientists nor a nature book for naturalists, it is offered to everyone who shares those cares, and not only for information but also for contemplation. Stories are seasoned with humor and quotations from favorite writers and poets. The straight-jacket of academia was cast off for the freedom of writing in a hopeful tone for an anxious age.

A writer or ethnologist might dream of discovering a hidden poet who gives impromptu performances outside a country store or to visitors at her mobile home in a hollow of the West Virginia mountains. Bertie Jane Cutlip (1924 - 2021) composed over 100 poems reflecting on her life in central Appalachia and celebrating the beauty of her home state. Her works express hope and faith amid lifes trials, sprinkled with humor. Known only in and around her county, this anthology brings her to wider notice. Sections: HOME; COUNTRY LIFE; FAMILY & FRIENDS; PETS & CRITTERS; SEASONS; MEMORIES; HEART & SOUL