A shrewd meditation on home, family, nature, and the author. Mar 05, 2019 from the fertile soils of love, land, identity, family, and race emerges the home place, a bighearted, unforgettable memoir by ornithologist j. May 01, 2020 from these fertile soilsof love, land, identity, family, and raceemerges the home place, a bighearted, unforgettable memoir by ornithologist j. Lanhams book is a memoir of his relationship to his familys homestead in south carolina, where he fell in love with the natural world. Joseph drew lanham is an american author, poet and wildlife biologist. The home place is comprised of an introduction and three main sections. He describes his upbringing in the rural south in a rapturous way that shows how nature became his religion, but he also knows why many of his race associate. Drew lanham is a native of edgefield, south carolina, and an alumni distinguished professor of wildlife ecology and master teacher at clemson university. Sep 09, 2016 a lyrical story about the power of the wild, j. His mother and father were hardworking school teachers and farmers on the side, and in the 60s they built a house in the country called the ranch, just down the road from mamathas older and much more ramshackle place where lanham spent most of his time growing up. Drew lanham, a black man, teaches ornithology at clemson university in his native state of south carolina, not so far from where he grew up in rural edgefield. Ra ised in edgefield, south carolina, just north of augusta, lanham traces his roots to a slave named harry who was brought to the area around 1790. Those of us who try to think about land have much to learn from j.
Sep 27, 2019 in the home place, readers meet these extraordinary people, including drew himself, who over the course of the 1970s falls in love with the natural world around him. His research focuses on songbird ecology, as well as the africanamerican role in naturalresources conservation. Phd forest resources 1997 is a native of edgefield and aiken, south carolina. He is an associate professor and certified wildlife biologist in the department of forestry and natural resources at clemson university. Its no surprise that many of our most celebrated lovers of the land. Drew lanham nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise. He is a board member of several conservation organizations, including the south. In the home place, readers meet these extraordinary people, including drew himself, who over the course of the 1970s falls in love with the natural world around him. A birder, naturalist, and hunterconservationist, lanham has published essays and poetry in publications including orion, flycatcher, and wilderness. Memoirs of a colored mans love affair with nature, synthesizes his own family history, geography. From these fertile soilsof love, land, identity, family, and raceemerges the home place, a bighearted, unforgettable memoir by ornithologist j. Marine ornithology an extraordinary and trailblazing perspective on nature and race, told by a southern black man who. Marine ornithology an extraordinary and trailblazing perspective on nature and race, told by a southern black man who became a natural scientist and a bird watcher. From these fertile soils of love, land, identity, family, and race emerges the home place, a bighearted, unforgettable memoir by ornithologist.
Like john muir, aldo leopold, rachel carson, and other trailblazers before him, lanham writes rapturously of the natural world, of its majesty. He is a birder, naturalist, and hunterconservationist who has published essays and. Memoirs of a colored mans love affair with nature milkweed editions, reprint june 2017, engages this problem as he considers what it means to be a person of color who feels at home in americas wild places. In me, there is the red of miry clay, the brown of spring floods, the gold of ripening tobacco. While he is widely published in his scholarly field, the home place is his first book for a general audience. Lanham said he wrote the book because he wanted to show how personal. I think about the lay of the land, how it came to be, what natural forces have changed it, what human forces have mangled it, how concrete and asphalt doom it. The home place memoirs of a colored mans love affair with nature book. From these fertile soils of love, land, identity, family, and race emerges the home place, a bighearted, unforgettable memoir by ornithologist and professor of ecology j. Memoirs of a colored mans love affair with nature, by j. Drew lanham is a professor of wildlife at clemson university, where he holds an endowed chair as an alumni distinguished professor and was named an alumni master teacher in 2012. In the home place, readers meet these extraordinary people, including drew.
From the fertile soils of love, land, identity, family, and race emerges the home place, a bighearted, unforgettable memoir by ornithologist j. This event will take place on friday, march 27, 2020, from 7. Dating back to slavery, edgefield county, south carolinaa place easy to pass by on the way to somewhere elsehas been home to generations of lanhams. Lanham is a birder, naturalist, and hunterconservationist who has published essays and poetry in publications including orion, flycatcher, and wilderness. A deep and abiding connection to the pastures and forests of south carolina defines j. In his twenty years as clemson university faculty heas worked to understand how forest management impacts wildlife and how human beings think about nature. The home place in me, there is the red of miry clay, the brown of spring floods, the gold of ripening tobacco. Sep 19, 2016 read narrowly, the home place is a consideration of the land in edgefield, s.
This wise and deeply felt memoir of a black naturalists improbable journey travels the hallways of academia, the fields and forests of ornithological study, and the dusty clay roads of the rural south where it all began with grace, humility, and an. Drew lanham is a professor of wildlife at clemson university. Hollars in his debut memoir, selfdescribed ecoaddict j. Drew lanham says, where nature hangs on by tooth, talon, and tendril. The birthplace of ten governors, as well as and often including noted racists and segregationists such as pitchfork ben tillman and strom thurmond, edgefield was also home to the twohundredacre lanham family farm. He observes keenly all the flora, taking note of centuriesold perennials. From these fertile soils of love, land, identity, family, and race emerges the home place, a bighearted. Dating back to slavery, edgefield county, south carolinaa place easy to pass by on the way somewhere elsehas been home to generations of lanhams. Memoirs of a colored mans love affair with nature, synthesizes his. Memoirs of a colored mans love affair with nature by amy wright january 30, 2017 no comments there are still priceless places, j. Raised in edgefield, south carolina, lanham studied zoology and ecology at clemson university, where he earned a phd in 1997 and where he currently holds an endowed chair as an alumni distinguished professor. Drew lanham s the home place is a stunning read, a masterpiece, a soft rebellion that touches the deepest of our instincts. Lanhams love of the land and its creatures begins on his schoolteacher parents edgefield, south carolina farm.
His research focuses on songbird ecology, as well as the african american role in naturalresources conservation. Drew lanhams the home place is a stunning read, a masterpiece, a soft rebellion that touches the deepest of our instincts. As the narrative unfolds in a series of essays, the home place. Read narrowly, the home place is a consideration of the land in edgefield, s. Drew lanham explores the connection between trees and family trees, birds and brethren, and most importantly of all, the place where. He observes keenly all the flora, taking note of centuriesold perennials, and.
A birder, naturalist, and distinguished professor of wildlife ecology at clemson university, lanham recounts his. Dating back to slavery, edgefield county, south carolina a place easy to pass by on the way somewhere else has been home to generations of lanhams. Drew lanham was born and raised in rural south carolina. Drew lanham, 978157508, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Memoirs of a colored mans love affair with nature, will give a reading at 5. He is a birder, naturalist, hunterconservationist, and an alumni distinguished professor of wildlife ecology and master teacher at clemson university. Drew lanhams remarkable, boundarybreaking memoir, the home place. Lanham asks us to develop a broader and more nuanced view of the intersection of environment and race. The athensclarke county library and avid bookshop present j.
In the home place, readers meet these extraordinary people. Drew lanhams the home place teems with lifenotably the authors own remarkable one. I think of land and hope that others are thinking about it, too. A professor of wildlife ecology, an ornithologist, and a nature writer. Exploring ties between nature, history, and race adventure. Drew lanham, an ornithologist and wildlife ecologist, explores the american landscapethe literal, cultural, and physical landscape, but also dynamics of race.
Drew lanham, a black man, teaches ornithology at clemson university in his native state of south carolina, not so far from where he grew up in rural edgefield county where he was raised, mostly, by his grandmother, mamatha. Like john muir, aldo leopold, rachel carson, and other trailblazers before him, lanham writes rapturously of the natural world, of its. Memoirs of a colored mans love affair with nature, j. Lanham comes from a line of people who didnt fit neatly into the categories of their times and places. The home place is how lanham refers to his childhood home. As his passion takes flight, however, he begins to ask what it means to be the rare bird, the oddityto find joy and freedom in the same land his ancestors were tied to by.
September 27, 2019 reason center events past leave a comment. Drew lanham, a clemson alumni distinguished professor of wildlife ecology, talks about his book, the home place. Memoirs of a colored mans love affair with nature, will give a reading. Memoirs of a colored mans love affair with nature, which received the reed award from the southern environmental law center and the southern book prize, and was a finalist for the john burroughs medal. He is also a member of the national audubon society and audubon south carolina boards, along with several other environmental organizations.