Writings Wake Robin

In the early spring, the blooming of the wildflower trillium — also known as "wake-robin" — heralds the return of migrating birds. In Wake-Robin: A Collection of Essays About the Birds, John Burroughs offers absorbing reading for birdwatchers, nature lovers, and anyone interested in ecology and conservation. This 1871 collection of essays by the distinguished naturalist showcases his special gift for combining scientific accuracy with a grand poetic expression. These essays particularly focus on birds of the Adirondacks and the Washington, D.C. region. "What I offer, in fact, is a careful and conscientious record of actual observations and experiences, and is true as it stands written, every word of it. But what has interested me most in ornithology is the pursuit, the chase, the discovery," he notes, adding that "I have tried to present a live bird, a bird in the woods or the fields, with the atmosphere and associations of the place, and not merely a stuffed and labeled specimen." Although scrupulously factual, Burroughs' investigations are less those of a scientist and more in the nature of an experienced and articulate observer who delights in sharing the timeless joys of birdwatching and the outdoors.

John Burroughs was born April 3, 1837, near the town of Roxbury in the Catskill Mountains. Growing up on his parents' farm, he absorbed much of the nature and country life that he would later write about in his many volumes. He taught briefly, married, and during the Civil War settled in Washington, D.C. where he obtained a job as a clerk in the Treasury Department. It was during his nine years in Washington that he published his first book, Wake-Robin. In 1873 he returned to New York State and established his home "Riverby" on the west bank of the Hudson River at West Park. He began fruit farming and continued to write, publishing a new book about every two years.

Five generations of Marnie O. Mamminga’s family have been rejuvenated by times together in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. In a series of evocative remembrances accompanied by a treasure trove of vintage family photos, Mamminga takes us to Wake Robin, the cabin her grandparents built in 1929 on Big Spider Lake near Hayward, on land adjacent to Moody’s Camp. Along the way she preserves the spirit and cultural heritage of a vanishing era, conveying the heart of a place and the community that gathered there. Bookended by the close of the logging era and the 1970s shift to modern lake homes, condos, and Jet Skis, the 1920s to 1960s period covered in these essays represents the golden age of Northwoods camps and cabins—a time when retreats such as Wake Robin were the essence of simplicity. In Return to Wake Robin, Mamminga describes the familiar cadre of fishing guides casting their charm, the camaraderie and friendships among resort workers and vacationers, the call of the weekly square dance, the splash announcing a perfectly executed cannonball, the lodge as gathering place. By tracing the history of one resort and cabin, she recalls a time and experience that will resonate with anyone who spent their summers Up North—or wishes they had.