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xi Acknowledgments In deepest gratitude, I would like to recognize the many students who took my Environmental Literature course over the years and walked the journey of this book with me, including especially the fall 2009 class. My students helped me develop the ideas presented in this book, but more than that, they also helped me remember that the ideas must be lived. Many of them have touched me deeply. I am also appreciative of the faculty members who have taught the course with me, Peter Blaze Corcoran and Kevin Aho. I have learned much from them. Thank you, Peter Blaze, for originally conceiving of the course with me and for working together to bring many of the authors we taught to our campus. And thank you, Kevin, for sharing with me your deep and rich understanding of Martin Heidegger both in our class and during our long runs in the southwest Florida wilderness; anything profound in this book surely has your influence, just as any errors are my own. The seed for this book was planted in the fall of 2000 when the Orion Society brought the Forgotten Language Tour to our campus. That seed has fully germinated with the support and assistance of everyone at the University of Georgia Press, including especially Nancy Grayson, John McLeod, and John Joerschke, who has allowed me to share my words with others; I am indebted to Philip Cafaro and Simon Ortiz for their thoughtful reading of the manuscript, to Kaelin Broaddus for her graceful cover design, and to Barbara Wojhoski for copyediting the manuscript. Moreover, this book could not have been written without the influence of Janisse Ray, Terry Tempest Williams, and Linda Hogan. I am blessed to count each of them as a friend and colleague. They have given us a great gift in their writing. I am xii acknowledgments especially indebted to Linda Hogan for the title of my book, which I borrowed from her essay “Walking.” I would like to recognize Donna Price Henry, who was my dean during the time that much of this book was written; her generous spirit and kind ways nurture all of those who are under her care. I deeply appreciate the assistance of my friend and colleague Nicolette Lucia Costantino, who assisted with research, proofreading, typing, and sorting through ideas; her companionship while I was the associate dean helped me make it through many difficult days. I wish to thank the Circle of Eleven, an embrace of love and acceptance; every person should be so lucky to have such friends. I also acknowledge the support of my family: my parents, Pam and Al; my brother and sisters, David, Heidi, Bridgett, and Kathryn, who have walked the journey of my life with me; and my children, Zachary James and Kathryn Keene, who are also my best friends. This book has been written with Zach and Kat in my mind and my heart. Finally, and most fully, I must acknowledge my wife, Sasha Ree Linsin Wohlpart, who is my bedrock. She is light and love and makes the world around her dance with a brilliant radiance. This book would never have happened if she had not joined me on my journey across our beautiful and fragile Earth. I am blessed beyond measure. ...

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