Coyote S Morning Cry

This story of the conflicts between humans and coyotes reminds us to reflect on our relationship with the natural world.

"All of these stories are so nearly true that you need not be troubled in the least about believing them." So begins author Mary Austin in the preface to her 1904 collection of "fanciful tales for children" of the myths and legends of the first peoples of the Sierra Nevada and Yosemite region. Austin, an amateur naturalist and a keen observer of human influence on the landscape, here regales us with the charming stories of: [ "The Basket Woman" [ "The Stream That Ran Away" [ "The Cheerful Glacier" [ "The Christmas Tree" [ "The Fire Bringer" [ "The White-Barked Pine" [ and others American author MARY HUNTER AUSTIN (1868-1934) wrote numerous novels, poems, plays, and works of criticism, much of it centered on feminist, environmental, and multicultural issues. She is best remembered for her writing on matters concerning Native American rights and the deserts of the American Southwest.

Beginning from the notion that self is constructed, contributors in Identity Landscapes: Contemplating Place and the Construction of Self are particularly interested in how relationships with place inform identity development.

Precise, practical, poetic, and powerful. These are just four of many superlatives that could be used to describe -- but which would only begin to describe -- the artistry and crystal-clear insight of Jon Barnard Gilmore in his new book. For this is a book like no other, on a subject that millions of people will be "registering" to study as our population ages. As will prove true for so many readers, retirement for Gilmore has led to a series of surprises, by turns sobering and joyful. As a professor of Psychology, with many more years of teaching ahead of him before he would turn sixty-five, Gilmore was surprised to find himself falling in love with the Kootenay region of British Columbia following a chance encounter during a long drive to California. He was also surprised, a few years later, to find himself bidding on property there and then applying for early retirement from his teaching position. Kaslo, B.C., was where he thought he would live year-round. But divorce -- a further surprise -- and a new relationship have meant that he now divides his time between two regions of startling beauty: his B.C. home and the Caledon hills near Toronto. Perhaps most surprising to Gilmore has been his discovery that the real work of any life begins when we retire: that retiring consists of a series of personal and relational tasks through which we might achieve a better understanding of ourselves, and of our past, present, and future.

Coyote, Eagle-man, quail, bear, and other charaters relate their adventures in two dozen delightful tales Anna Shaw heard her father tell when she was young. The author, a Pima herself, unfolds twenty-four charming Indian tales as passed down from generation to generation. Simple, and beautiful in design and content. A delight for all ages.