Talking on the Water: Conversations about Nature and Creativity

292 Pages·2016·17.195 MB·English

by  Jonathan White

Conversations About Nature and Creativity
DAVID BROWERJANET MCCLOUD
CRETE I. EHRLICH P A U L SHEPARD
PETER MATTH I ESSEN URSULA
LE GUIN DOLORES LAC HAPELLE
LYNN MARGULIS ROGER PAYNE
MATTHEW FOX JAMES HILLMAN
RICHARD NELSON GARY SNYDER
A SIERRA CLUB BOOK
Donated from the Library of Marti Kheel
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Conversations
About Nature
and Creativity
SIERRA CLUB BOOKS
SAN FRANCISCO
The Sierra Club, founded in 1892 by John Muir, has devoted itself to the
study and protection of the earth’s scenic and ecological resources—
mountains, wetlands, woodlands, wild shores and rivers, deserts and
plains. The publishing program of the Sierra Club offers books to the pub¬
lic as a nonprofit educational service in the hope that they may enlarge the
public’s understanding of the Club’s basic concerns. The point of view ex¬
pressed in each book, however, does not necessarily represent that of the
Club. The Sierra Club has some sixty chapters coast to coast, in Canada,
Hawaii, and Alaska. For information about how you may participate in its
programs to preserve wilderness and the quality of life, please address in¬
quiries to Sierra Club, 730 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94109.
Copyright © 1994 by Jonathan White
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and re¬
trieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher.
The author gratefully acknowledges permission to reprint from the fol¬
lowing materials: From The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilfa by Rainer
Maria Rilke, edited & translated by Stephen Mitchell. Copyright © 1982 by
Stephen Mitchell. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc. “The
Women Speaking,” by Linda Hogan. From That’s What She Said: Contem¬
porary Poetiy and Fiction by Native American Women, edited by Rayna
Green. Reprinted by permission of Linda Hogan.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA
White, Jonathan.
Talking on the water : conversations about nature and creativity /
by Jonathan White,
p. cm.
ISBN O-87156-515-3
i. American literature—20th century—History and criticism—
Theory, etc. 2. Authors, American—20th century—Interviews.
3. Nature in literature. 4. Creative ability. I. Title.
PS163.W47 1993
8io.9'36—dc2o 93-18402
CIP
Production by Susan Ristow
Cover and book design by Amy Evans
Composition by Wilsted & Taylor
Printed in the United States ol America on acid-free paper containing
50% recycled fiber of which 10% is post-consumer.
10 987654321
This boo\ is dedicated to my mother, Jai White,
and to the memory of my father, William White.
I love you.

Contents
Acknowledgments • vii
Jonathan White • Talking on the Water • ix
Gretel Ehrlich • A Call from One Kingdom to Another . i
Roger Payne • Voices from the Sea • 19
David Brower • The Archdruid Himself • 37
Lynn Margulis • Living by Gaia . 57
Richard Nelson • Life-Ways of the Hunter • 79
Ursula LeGuin • Coming Bac\ from the Silence • 99
James Hillman • Animal Presence • 121
Gary Snyder • Hanging Out with Raven • 137
Dolores LaChapelle • Mountains Constantly Walking • 157
Matthew Fox • In Touch with the Wind • 181
Paul Shepard • The Unreturning Arrow • 205
Peter Matthiessen • Inochi, Life Integrity • 229
Janet McCloud • On the Trail • 247
Further Reading • 263
About the Contributors • 268
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2018 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/talkingonwatercoOOwhit
Ack nowledgments
The voices and efforts that have influenced this book are many. I wish
to thank Linda Gunnarson for her professional assistance in the be¬
ginning stages of the work; Donna Sandstrom for her thoughtful co¬
editing of the early editions of “Animal Presence” and “Voices from
the Sea”; Nita Couchman for her help with transcriptions and editing;
Ted Braun, Alice Braun, and my family for abiding assurance; and
Lindsay Aiken for suggesting the title, Talking on the Water.
I am grateful to Susan Ristow, Amy Evans, Erik Migdail, Kim
Nishida, and other staff of Sierra Club Books for their careful atten¬
tion to design, marketing, and production details, and to my editor,
Jim Cohee, for his invaluable guidance and criticism. Throughout the
writing process, Richard Nelson gave me support and friendship, and
took time away from his own work to help me with mine; Gary Sny¬
der offered wise counsel and encouragement; Donna Laslo stayed up
late to discuss sections that troubled me. Holly Hughes and Thomas
Coleman read through each chapter in process, raised critical ques¬
tions, and gave me many hours on the phone or in coffee shops to dis¬
cuss everything from editorial details to chapter order. Thomas
Coleman gave me far more support than any friend could ever ask.
Talking on the Water would not have been possible without the gen¬
erosity of the people whose interviews comprise these chapters. In
each case, they dedicated time before, during, and after the interview.
I am deeply grateful. I also wish to thank the board of directors and
staff of Resource Institute, especially Anna Manildi and Lela Hilton,
for many years of companionship and laughter, and for believing in
viii Talking on the Water
me and the mischievous possibilities of sailing around the Northwest
coast on an old wooden schooner. To the schooner itself, the people
who joined her, and the places we visited, I thank you for the unfor¬
gettable magic.