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Janisse Ray, Author and Activist, on 'Nature, Community, and the Life We Dream'

Presented by Belmont University

September 17, 2009

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The most vital challenge we humans face in the 21st century is figuring out, individually and collectively, how to lead whole lives?how to live well despite the destruction and fragmentation around us. Here's a poetic and visionary look at wholeness and at what being "fully human" means. The work of community organizing, environmental protection, and restoration is holy work, that of restoring the magnanimity of our humanity. Writer, naturalist, and activist Janisse Ray is author of three books of literary nonfiction. Ecology of a Cracker Childhood (2000), a memoir about growing up in a junkyard in the ruined longleaf pine ecosystem of the Southeast, was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book. She has also written Wild Card Quilt: Taking a Chance on Home, as well as Pinhook: Finding Wholeness in a Fragmented Land. Ray believes the most vital challenge we humans face in the 21st century is figuring out, individually and collectively, how to lead whole lives - how to live well despite the destruction and fragmentation around us. Tony Horwitz from the New York Times Book Review writes, "What sets Ecology of a Cracker Childhood apart is the ambitious and arresting mission implied in its title. . . . Ray's passion for preserving and restoring this unsung landscape is heartfelt and refreshing."

This event is part of Belmont University's Eighth Annual Humanities Symposium, which this year is centered on the concept Nature and the Human Spirit. Be sure to check out the long program schedule and short program schedule.