On The Tree Collectors by Amy Stewart
By Andrea Elise
Hello, HPPR listeners, my name is Andrea Elise and I live in Amarillo, TX. Today, we will discuss a non-fiction volume called The Tree Collectors by Amy Stewart.
Before we begin, let’s look at some of Joyce Kilmer’s famous poem, “Trees.” A few lines are as follows:
“I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray.”
Ms. Stewart is fascinated by anyone who is involved in all aspects of, as she writes, “arboreal obsession.”
The book profiles 50 individuals who have experienced joy, healing, reconciliation and purpose by becoming collectors of everything from seeds to pinecones to persimmon and bonsai trees to mighty oak and maple ones.
Ms. Stewart divides the collectors into 10 groups: healers, ecologists, artists, curators, educators, community builders, enthusiasts, seekers, preservationists and visionaries.
Did you know that W.S. Merwin, the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for poetry, was determined to grow as many species of palms at his home in Hawaii as he could?
Merwin ensured that the palm forest he created was catalogued. He also liked to bury his mail at the base of trees, giving back to the soil. Merwin wrote: “On the last day of the world, I would want to plant a tree.”
It may be surprising to learn that Jesse Owens, the gold medalist in track and field at the Berlin Olympics in 1936 and winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976, also received four Oak Trees at the Olympics. Mr. Owens planted the trees at different sites important to him. The DNA of one of the trees was successfully grafted and cloned.
I was interested in a few of what Amy Stewart called her “Hall of Fame” or celebrity tree collectors.
Dame Judi Dench has supported numerous conservation causes and once asked a local wood carver to make hearts of wood from an enormous oak branch which fell on her property to gift to the cast of “Hamlet,” of which she was a member.
Chuck Leavell, who was the keyboardist for the Allman Brothers Band, as well as the Rolling Stones, practices sustainable forestry on his Georgia property. He has often proclaimed that his three passions are: “my family, my trees, and my music.”
Another member of the Hall of Fame collectors is Jason Mraz, whose music and lyrics cut to the core of our passions and insecurities. Jason bought an avocado farm near San Diego and grows forty fruit varieties and eleven different types of coffee.
These individuals are just a few of the many and varied dendrophiles Ms. Stewart profiles in her gripping and provocative book.
My guess is that there will be a relatable person and story for everyone.
In my reading, I remembered the enormous health benefit of being in a forest and how the release of restorative oxygen and transpiration made me feel. That does not even consider the spiritual life force that plants and trees provide every single day. What a magical and divine spark in our lives!
This is Andrea Elise for the HPPR Radio Readers Book Club.
