From the Top:
Two photos of Trout Lilies and a Redbud Tree. 
Trillium - species not determined. 
Two photos of Trout Lilies and a Forkleak Toothwort.
Undetermined Trillium and to photos of Primrose. 

​My article on Sandhill Crane migration appears in the Hellbender Pres, East Tennessee’s environmental journal https://hellbenderpress.org/news/sandhills-fly-in.

Other Recent Projects

Aside from preparing this personal newsletter, I am the editor of two others. Newsletters for the Chattanooga Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society appear on this page
​https://chattanoogatos.org/newsletters/.

My recent newsletter for the Chattanooga Writers Guild includes Finn Bille’s article on revising your poetry https://chattanoogawritersguild.org/2023/01/13/newsletter-january-14-2023/.

Here is a poem recently published in The Weekly Avocet.

​Singularity
 
We live in the gravitational well of a quantum singularity.
Astronomers call the center of the singularity a black hole.
 
Astronomers call the center of the singularity a black hole.
We pour in coal, oil, soil, and forests.
 
We pour in coal, oil, soil, and forests.
We pour in laborers, water, and money.
 
We pour in laborers, water, and money.
The singularity wants more every year.
 
The singularity wants more every year.
There will never be enough.
 
There will never be enough.
Until we say, “enough.”

Nocturnal Naturalist Links
My web page with links to published articles appears here. https://rayzimmermanauthor.com
 
Nightwalk a journey into the heart of nature is  journey through the night of the Summer Solstice, the shortest night of the year. Nightwalk: A Journey to the Heart of Nature by Chris Yates | Goodreads

The Nocturnal Naturalist: Exploring the Outdoors at Night is an exploration of the world of night through the year. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/486845.The_Nocturnal_Naturalist
 
Brad Daniel and Clifford Knapp wrote this article on how to conduct a night walk.  Nighttime Adventures - Green Schools National Network
 
The Barred Owl Film from White Memorial Conservation Center. The Barred Owl - YouTube.
 
Barred Owl Fact Sheet from the National Audubon Society. 10 Fun Facts About the Barred Owl | Audubon.
 
All about birds from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology is a good starting place to find bird information. This is their page about screech owls: Eastern Screech-Owl Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
 
Great Horned Owl, Audubon fact sheet: Audubon Field Guide Great Horned Owl | Audubon Field Guide.
 
Barn Owl: Barn Owl Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
 
Bats of Tennessee Mammals Bats | State of Tennessee, Wildlife Resources Agency (tn.gov).
 
Gray Bats Gray Bats | This American Land - YouTube.
 
Nickajack Cave Nickajack Cave Wildlife Refuge | Tennessee River Valley (tennesseerivervalleygeotourism.org)
 
Fact sheet on white-nose syndrome What Is White-nose Syndrome? (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).
 
Bioluminescence: National Geographic https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/bioluminescence.
 
Fungi that Glow A Thousand Points of Light: Bioluminescent Fungi | NSF - National Science Foundation.
 
Dinoflagellates  https://sos.noaa.gov/education/phenomenon-based-learning/the-ocean-is-glowing/.
 
Comb Jellies: Glowing Ctenophores https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9VpykGuaruA. 
 
Attracting Moths https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N52rkVpyPX8.
 
Katydids: Katydids - The Daily Garden https://www.thedailygarden.us/garden-word-of-the-day/katydids.
 
Tennessee Frogs – go to the page and click on the individual photo for a species account. https://www.tn.gov/twra/wildlife/amphibians/frogs-and-toads.html.
 
Identify frogs and toads by their calls on the LEAPS website.
 
List of Crepuscular Animals Crepuscular animals (animalia.bio) Bats are nocturnal, but bat observers tend to watch at dusk https://animalia.bio/elastic-search?search=Crepuscular.
 
Chimney Swifts are diurnal but go to roost in large numbers at dusk: Chattanooga Chapter, Tennessee Ornithological Society. http://chattanoogatos.org/chimney-swift-advocacy/. 

Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: a Sourcebook. 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1274222.Star_Myths_of_the_Greeks_and_Romans

​They Dance in the Sky: Native American Star Myths
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1492526.They_Dance_in_the_Sky.

​Greetings:

I hope you are all well as you receive these words. 
I have devoted several past issues of this newsletter to Nature Writers with a strong focus on those living in or writing about Tennessee. Today, I introduce a few others whose works I am just beginning to explore. 
But first, some shameless self-promotion. 
My short story "Family" is the final piece in the 2022 edition of the Mildred Hahn Review. The Review is a journal of Appalachian culture, and my piece fits the motif. 
https://www.ws.edu/_media/pdf/special-events/mildred/review/2022-review.pdf.

My essay "How I Became a Poet" will appear in an upcoming edition of Waxing and Waning, a literary magazine from April Gloaming Publishing in Nashville. They also published the Sinew anthology from Poetry in the Brew, an open-mic poetry group that met online during the pandemic. Poetry in the Brew returned to Portland Brew East, a coffee shop in east Nashville, and I have a poem in the Sinew anthology. 

Now for the Promised Content
Other Nature Authors Briefly Noted

Many of the referenced works are available online.

Edward Abbey (1927 – 1989) was born in Home, Pennsylvania, and lived most of his adult life in the desert southwest, where many of his works are set. He authored the text for Elliot Porter's photographic montage, Appalachian Wilderness: The Great Smoky Mountains. The written portions are substantial, as coffee table books go. Abbey devoted a part of the text to William Bartram and his book, frequently referred to as Bartram's Travels (1791). The publisher included some of Bartram's original line drawings as illustrations. 

Dr. Hal DeSelm (1926-2011) was a plant ecologist who recorded plants present at over 3,000 sites in the state. His papers are preserved at the University of Tennessee, and an article about him appeared online in The Hellbender Press. 

Wilma Dykeman (1920 – 2006) authored The French Broad for the American Rivers book series. A chapter titled "Who Killed the French Broad" brought environmental issues to public attention years before Rachel Carson. An article about Dykeman appears in the Tennessee Encyclopedia, and an excerpt from another book appears in the volume Writing Appalachia. 

Albert F. Ganier (1883 – 1973) was trained as an engineer, but birdwatching was his hobby. He published several articles in scientific journals. His books included A Distribution List of the Birds of Tennessee, Water Birds of Reelfoot Lake, and The Wildlife met by Tennessee's First Settlers. The Biodiversity Heritage Library includes archived papers.

Dr. Augustin Gattinger (1825-1902) was a Physician and Botanist who immigrated from Germany. He served as the company physician at the copper mines in Copper Hill, Tennessee. He published a guide to medicinal plants of Tennessee and an annotated checklist of Tennessee Plants. The second volume includes "Philosophy of Botany," a review of scientific botany beginning with Aristotle. A brief biography of Gattinger appears on the website of the Tennessee Native Plant Society.  

Dr. Thomas Hemmerly (1932 – 2006) was a Botany professor at MTSU. He authored several wildflower guides, including Appalachian Wildflowers, Ozark Wildflowers, and Wildflowers of the Mid-South. He was one of four contributors to the project Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and Southern Appalachians.

Dennis Horn was the senior author in the collaborative project, Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and Southern Appalachians. His biography appears in the Tennessee Native Plant Society Hall of Fame. 

Dr. Brian Miller has researched reptiles and amphibians for 40 years. A list of his technical publications appears on his faculty website. He teaches, researches, and supervises Middle Tennessee State University student research. Ray Zimmerman’s interview with him appears in The Hellbender Press. 

Mack Prichard (1939 – 2020) began his career with Tennessee State Parks while still in high school. He served as State Archaeologist and later as State Naturalist with the Tennessee Department of Conservation and environment. The Friends of South Cumberland State Park have developed a Mack Prichard Legacy Project with the online publication of Mack’s writing, video appearances, and photographs.

Dr. Else Quarterman (1910 – 2014) was a plant ecologist who mentored doctoral students at Vanderbilt University. She is credited with rediscovering the Tennessee Coneflower, which was thought to be extinct, and was involved in preserving the fragile Cedar Glades of central Tennessee. She was published in academic journals. A biography appears in the Tennessee Native Plant Society Hall of Fame. 

Scott Somershoe is an ornithologist with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency who authored Birds of Tennessee: A New Annotated Checklist. His book includes information on the status, distribution, and abundance of 415 species reported in the state. Check out his book on Goodreads.

Dr. Eugene B. Wofford served as Herbarium Director and Curator at the University of Tennessee. He published numerous papers and guides to plant identification. He is included in the Tennessee Native Plant Society Hall of Fame. 
 

In my ongoing examination of the published works of Robert Sparks Walker, I learned that he put his experience as a magazine editor and publisher to work for the Chattanooga Audubon Society. Beginning in 1945,  Flower and Feather, which began as the newsletter of the Chattanooga Audubon, became a quarterly magazine.
 
The directors produced one issue in 1944. Volume 1 Number 1 appears to be mimeographed from a typewritten original. It is four pages, printed on one side. A bird guide to Audubon Acres is appended to the newsletter. 
 
The newsletter included reports on the acquisition of the property and its suitability as a nature sanctuary. The directors announced a plan to build a suspension bridge and a wading bird habitat. Plans also included a small library and museum with Dr. W.K. Butts as the curator. The directors formed a committee to restore the historic log cabin. 
 
Beginning with volume II, the newsletter became a 48-page nature magazine. The directors produced one per year, with four issues per volume: January, April, July, and October. 
 
No editor is named in the January 1945 issue, which began with reports by four members who remembered seeing the extinct Passenger Pigeon. Walker later included some of this information in his book, As the Indians Left It. A poem by Robert sparks Walker concluded the issue. 
 
Dr. W.K. Butts wrote the lead article for the April issue. Robert Sparks Walker provided a lead piece and a concluding poem and was officially listed as editor beginning in July 1945. 
 
Walker personally sponsored a poetry competition with over 3,000 entries with the founding of the CAS. The Chattanooga Audubon Society sponsored a photography contest. Each quarterly issue of Flower and Feather had a monochrome photograph on the cover. Many included nature poetry in addition to Walker's concluding poem.  
 
Volume XI, January 1955, includes an article on the acquisition of Maclellan Island in the Tennessee River. This was a significant growth opportunity for the Chattanooga Audubon Society.
   
The October 1960 issue was prepared before Walker's death on September 26, 1960. It included an announcement of the revised edition of State Flowers and Birds, forthcoming in October, and Walker's article, "An All-American Thanksgiving Dinner."  The report of Walker's death appears in the January 1961 issue. The publishers of State Flowers and Birds state that the 1960 revised volume was his final book.
 
Walker had written several pieces for the magazine, which served as lead articles through 1971. Wendell Walker served as editor. The organization produced two issues in 1972 and ceased production. In 1980, the Board of Directors resumed production. The second series continued through 1983. 
 
A complete bound collection resides at the Chattanooga Public Library. The Chattanooga Audubon Society has some bound volumes. Others are collected in ring binders with other historical information, each issue in a sheet protector. The Special Collections of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Library has a set, according to worldcat.org. 
 
Following is a photo of the walker gravesite at Audubon Acres. 

The wetland at Curtain Pole Road is a part of the Riverpark between downtown Chattanooga and Amnicola Marsh. Parking is just off Riverside Drive. I created these photographs in the spring and summer of 2022 with a Canon EOS Rebel T6i Digital Single Lens Reflex camera. 

Writing the South
 
 
The Nashville Author Margret Renkl formerly edited the website Chapter 16, a part of Humanities, Tennessee. She now writes a weekly column about southern culture and backyard nature for the New York Times. Her book, Graceland at Last, is a collection of several of her New York Times articles. She addressed southern writing in one piece, which began with the following paragraph:
 
“From time to time, a debate resurfaces in Southern literary circles about whether there can still be a recognizable literature of the South in an age of mass media and Walmart. The 21st-century South would be unrecognizable to the Agrarian poets, whose 1930 manifesto, ‘I’ll Take My Stand,’ set out many of the principles that still cling like ticks to the term ‘Southern writer.’ Far more urban, far more ethnically and culturally and politically diverse, the South is no longer a place defined by sweet tea and slamming screen doors, and its literature is changing, too. ‘It is damn hard to put a pipe-smoking granny or a pet possum into a novel these days and get away with it,’ the novelist Lee Smith once said.”
You can read the full article at 
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/09/opinion/what-is-a-southern-writer.html.
 
Her comments certainly apply to Southern nature writing, which is part of southern writing, or perhaps it is a Southern subset of nature writing. 
 
Renkl’s first book, Late Migrations, included nature stories and family histories. The family histories seem to me a distinctly southern approach to writing, and she is not the only nature writer to mix nature stories with family histories. 
 
J. Drew Lanham, America’s best-known Black birdwatcher, also took this approach in his book The Home Place. His parents were teachers and farmers, and his stories include a fierce love of the natural world. His collection of poems is titled Sparrow Envy. You can also read his work on the website of Orion Magazine. https://orionmagazine.org/contributor/j-drew-lanham/
 
Many of the best-known contemporary southern nature writers are women. Janisse Ray added personal and family history to her nature writing in Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, her first nonfiction book. She also picked up this thread in her later book, The Wild Card Quilt She has written and edited several nonfiction books and published three poetry collections. She released her first book-length work of fiction this year. Her interview when inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame appears here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38ztIKCrl00
 
The Cherokee/Appalachian poet and essayist Marylou Awiakta also gave us a picture of the family as she presented wisdom and the importance of the natural world to her two cultures. She recently designated the Special Collections unit of the University of Tennessee Library as the recipient of her personal and professional papers. Although her books are out of print, they are available from used book dealers. Selu: Seeking the Corn Mother’s Wisdom is a collection of essays and poems. Abiding Appalachia is a collection of poems. When Awiakta decided to make the University of Tennessee the recipient of her personal and professional papers, the university library created a video celebration of her work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHuso0fmIUA&t=1325s
 
So, these four authors, Renkl, Lanham, Ray, and Awiakta, have points of similarity despite writing from vastly different cultural histories. None of them will appear at the Southern Festival of Books in 2022, but as far as I know, Janisse Ray is the only one to have published a book in the current year. This is a requirement to be named a presenter.
 
I have read the books named in this article and highly recommend them. I recommend Janise Ray’s book Drifting into Darien and Awiakta’s Rising Fawn. If you don’t have time for reading, search for the four authors on YouTube. You will find surprising results.