Seaweed Chronicles

“You might not expect unfettered passion on the topic of seaweed, but Shetterly is such a great storyteller that you find yourself following along eagerly.” —Mark Kurlansky “Seaweed is ancient and basic, a testament to the tenacious beginnings of life on earth,” writes Susan Hand Shetterly in this elegant, fascinating book. “Why wouldn’t seaweeds be a protean life source for the lives that have evolved since?” On a planet facing environmental change and diminishing natural resources, seaweed is increasingly important as a source of food and as a fundamental part of our global ecosystem. In Seaweed Chronicles, Shetterly takes readers deep into the world of this essential organism by providing an immersive, often poetic look at life on the rugged shores of her beloved Gulf of Maine, where the growth and harvesting of seaweed is becoming a major industry. While examining the life cycle of seaweed and its place in the environment, she tells the stories of the men and women who farm and harvest it—and who are fighting to protect this critical species against forces both natural and man-made. Ideal for readers of such books as The Hidden Life of Trees and How to Read Water, Seaweed Chronicles is a deeply informative look at a little understood and too often unappreciated part of our habitat.

“You might not expect unfettered passion on the topic of seaweed, but Shetterly is such a great storyteller that you find yourself following along eagerly.” —Mark Kurlansky “Seaweed is ancient and basic, a testament to the tenacious beginnings of life on earth,” writes Susan Hand Shetterly in this elegant, fascinating book. “Why wouldn’t seaweeds be a protean life source for the lives that have evolved since?” On a planet facing environmental change and diminishing natural resources, seaweed is increasingly important as a source of food and as a fundamental part of our global ecosystem. In Seaweed Chronicles, Shetterly takes readers deep into the world of this essential organism by providing an immersive, often poetic look at life on the rugged shores of her beloved Gulf of Maine, where the growth and harvesting of seaweed is becoming a major industry. While examining the life cycle of seaweed and its place in the environment, she tells the stories of the men and women who farm and harvest it—and who are fighting to protect this critical species against forces both natural and man-made. Ideal for readers of such books as The Hidden Life of Trees and How to Read Water, Seaweed Chronicles is a deeply informative look at a little understood and too often unappreciated part of our habitat.

A lavishly illustrated guide to the seaweed families of the world Seaweeds are astoundingly diverse. They're found along the shallows of beaches and have been recorded living at depths of more than 800 feet; they can be microscopic or grow into giants many meters long. They’re incredibly efficient at using the materials found in the ocean and are increasingly used in the human world, in applications from food to fuel. They’re beautiful, too, with their undulating shapes anchored to the sea floor or drifting on the surface. Seaweeds aren’t plants: they’re algae, part of a huge and largely unfamiliar group of aquatic organisms. Seaweeds of the World makes sense of their complicated world, differentiating between the three main groups—red, green, and brown—and delving into their complex reproductive systems. The result is an unprecedented, accessible, and in-depth look at a previously hidden ocean world. Features close to 250 beautiful color photos as well as diagrams and distribution maps Covers every major family and genus

“For the first time, fish became our companions and a corner of many a Victorian parlour was given over to housing tiny fragments of their world enclosed in glass.” The experience of seeing a fish swimming in a glass tank is one we take for granted now but in Victorian England this was a remarkable sight. People had simply not been able to see fish as they now could with the invention of the aquarium and everything that went with it. Goldfish in the Parlour looks at the boom in the building of public aquariums, as well as the craze for home aquariums and visiting the seaside, during the reign of Queen Victoria. Furthermore, this book considers how people see and meet animals and, importantly, in what institutions and in what contexts these encounters happen. John Simons uncovers the sweeping consequences of the Victorian obsession with marine animals by looking at naturalist Frank Buckland’s Museum of Economic Fish Culture and the role of fish in the Victorian economy, the development of angling as a sport divided along class lines, the seeding of Empire with British fish and comparisons with aquarium building in Europe, USA and Australia. Goldfish in the Parlour interrogates the craze that took over Victorian England when aquariums “introduced” fish to parks, zoos and parlours.

Lobsters, blueberries, moose, and rugged coastlines dotted with lighthouses are emblematic of the state of Maine. But underlying these simple icons is the rich natural heritage of Maine that drives the economy and shapes the state's culture. The history of Maine’s natural heritage has been co-produced by the both the natural and human worlds. The essays and photographs gathered here paint a vivid portrait of Maine's wild places and wild creatures, as well as of human impacts and the way the state's heritage has changed.

"A former Environmental Protection Agency attorney delivers an impassioned plea to fight pollution and climate change. Timely and engaging; a heroic environmental story well told." - Kirkus Book Review, April 22, 2020 (50th Anniversary of Earth Day) "Written both as a historic record and 'how to' guide aimed at inspiring change makers, this unvarnished and timely depiction from 1980 to today has something to offer readers of any age or ilk. Emory pulls back the curtain to expose the inner workings of the federal government and the EPA. He dives into the data-historic indicators, scientific and economic data, and policy choices-as well as humorously illustrating his forays abroad and his courtroom adventures. He tells the story of rampant pollution and how the US has fallen so far behind in its response to climate change and transition to clean energy. Emory has faith in forthcoming environmentalists, and his solutions-oriented presentation of the facts makes complex, cross-sector challenges feel within our grasp." - Fiona Gordon, published in Maine Environment newsletter of the Natural Resources Council of Maine (Augusta, Maine, spring & summer 2020) "This hybrid that is a must-read memoir and climate change book is NOT another dry treatise or one-sided, unbalanced diatribe. Richard Emory has written a very thoroughly knowledgeable and realistic account of the truth about EPA and how to fight pollution. He weaves in wonderful personal climate change stories and anecdotes about successes and failures of environmental policies enacted in the U.S. and other countries and how national attitudes have affected climate change & EPA's mission. Young people will be inspired to learn how to protect our environment." - David Katz, retired Assistant United States Attorney * * * * * With the election of President Biden and a new Congress, America is rejoining the Western world that sees the need for the U.S. to revive its EPA, formulate a "Green New Deal," and restore U.S. global leadership within the Paris Climate Accord. Fighting Pollution and Climate Change is a must-read memoir by Richard W. Emory, Jr., our nation's former top legal advisor to all EPA federal special agents. Emory witnessed how the U.S Department of Justice failed to effectively prosecute crimes of pollution. He became a whistleblower when interviewed by Congress that was investigating reports of mishandled pollution cases. In the second half of his career, working within EPA's foreign assistance mission, to the waiting world he helped spread effective measures for pollution control and for the implementation of global environmental treaties. Fighting Pollution and Climate Change is a "page-turner" - you will laugh, you will cry, but you won't be bored. You will learn the truth about U.S. and international successes and failures in the fight against air, water, pesticides and toxic-waste pollution. You'll be encouraged by his insider perspective as he tells how to protect the climate using today's technologies and EPA's proven policies. Who will benefit from this important environmental book? • Aspiring environmental activists - both young and old - who want to learn how to fight pollution and take action on climate change • Lovers of memoirs and nature, who will be touched by one individual's adventures in the exciting work of pollution control that can and must be expanded to climate protection • Global leaders and movements prepared to face the next chapter of unifying our world under a much stronger agenda to heal the Earth and protect our planet

“If you pay attention to the land where you live, you enter into conversation with it, until it becomes a voice inside you, and some of the boundaries between you and it dissolve,” write Susan Hand Shetterly. In this collection of elegant, spare, and often passionate essays, Shetterly explores what it is to live in a Down East coastal town, and to pay attention, over time, to what it offers of land, water, wildlife, and community. She takes her cue from Henry David Thoreau and Wendell Berry, who advocate for the virtues of staying in one place, believing that as we delve deeper into the landscape of home the more we learn about the world. As in many other places, this particular home place is in trouble. Shetterly celebrates the work of communities to restore environments their people know and love, and takes a closeup look at what is changing and what has been lost. Among her subjects are the reestablishment of the bald eagle, the reintroduction of the American turkey in Maine, and the turkey vulture’s northward trend. She also writes about shorebird migrations, the bluefin tuna and the humpback and right whales in the Gulf of Maine, counting alewives along a stream in the spring, seaweed cultivation in a bay, a forest’s rebirth, the island that gave her the imaginative space she needed, and more. She recounts how she and her neighbors kept each other company at a distance during the long months of the pandemic, and she celebrates coastal culture, its particular, deep history that anchors a person’s sense of place.