Where the Wild Books Are: A Field Guide to Ecofiction

Acknowledgments

xi acknowledgments My deepest and most sincere thanks to: Margaret Dalrymple, Joanne O’Hare, and the late Trudy McMurrin of the University of Nevada Press. Jo Ann Bradley and Flora Quinn of the California State University, Chico, Meriam Library Interlibrary Loan Department (ill) and ill staff from other libraries for providing me with hundreds of books and articles, some highly obscure. All my colleagues at Meriam Library for their continuing encouragement and advice, particularly Colleen Power for her expert assistance with the speculative fiction chapter and James Tyler for proofreading and editorial assistance. The late Lawrence Clark Powell, university librarian at ucla and Arizona, author of over forty books, and a champion of western American literature was the quintessential librarian/literary scholar and my primary role model and inspiration. Other librarians who were particularly helpful include Fred Stoss, sunyBuffalo ; Brian Aveney, librarian emeritus and speculative fiction expert; Maria Anna Jankowksa, University of Idaho, and editor of Electronic Green Journal; Kristin Ramsdell, romance fiction expert, California State University, Hayward ; David Laird, librarian emeritus and keeper of the Frank Waters flame; Donna Seaman, Booklist; Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal; Roy Conant, Book House; and Chris Dodge, Utne Reader. Thanks to former Meriam Library Director Carolyn Dusenbury and Head of Library Collections Julie Clarke for administrative support. The California State University, Chico, English department, especially professors Andrea Lerner, Susan Aylworth, Sarah Emily Newton, Peter Hogue, and Robert O’Brien, and Lisa Emmerich of the history department. Colleagues at other universities, including Karla Armbruster, Webster University; Charles Bergman, Pacific Lutheran University; Frank Bergon, Vassar College; xii acknowledgments Susan Bernardin and Charlotte Zoe Walker, suny Oneonta; Michael Branch, David Fenimore, Cheryll Glotfelty, Ann Ronald, and Scott Slovic, University of Nevada; Linda Helstern, North Dakota State University; Melody Graulich , Utah State University; Ursula Heise, Stanford University; Terry Heller, Coe College; Michael Kowalewski, Carleton College; Paul Lindholdt, Eastern Washington University; Glen Love, University of Oregon; Tom Lynch, University of Nebraska; Patricia Monaghan, DePaul University; Patrick D. Murphy, University of Central Florida; Steve Norwick, Sonoma State University ; Diane Quantic, Wichita State University; Harold Simonson, University of Washington; Steve Tatum, University of Utah; Bron Taylor, University of Florida; O. Alan Weltzien, University of Montana-Western; Nick Witschi, Western Michigan University. Scott Slovic deserves particular thanks for assistance on the international chapter and for demanding the highest scholarly standards. Authors Rick Bass, Linda Gunnerson, Thomas King, Barbara Kingsolver, Kent Nelson, the late Louis Owens, Marina Schauffler, Joan Slonczewski, and especially Brenda Peterson who has been a constant font of encouragement and good advice. Pat Schuman, Charles Harman, and Margo Hart of NealSchuman Publishers, publishers of my first Book, Earth Works: Recommended Fiction and Nonfiction about Nature and the Environment for Adults and Young Adults, in 1996. My late parents Bill and Ellen Dwyer for their encouragement to read and to appreciate nature, and my brother Billy for the books he recommended and for reality checks. High school English teachers Cale Campbell and Jan DeVries for encouraging my writing aspirations, and scoutmaster Chuck Furstenburg, who introduced me to the study of natural history and instilled a deep conservation ethic. All of the people listed above and many of the authors whose work is considered here have inspired, encouraged, or assisted me in the course of this long project. Any errors are mine. where the wild books are ...