"Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology"
Chris Bolgiano, Editor • Glenn Novak, Contributing Editor • Foreword by Bill McKibben
Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology is the inspiring story of an American symbol and the struggle to save it from the brink of extinction, the saga of a unique and exceptional tree that supported a way of life, that fed and sheltered our ancestors, and “touched almost every phase of our existence,” according to former President Jimmy Carter. From Indians and early explorers, to colonists, naturalists, loggers, industrialists, and beyond, from presidents, poets, and artists, including Jefferson, Lincoln, Carter, Thoreau, Frost, Homer, Andrew Wyeth, and many more, the story of our once mighty, towering native chestnut tree is a lesson for our times.
It is ultimately a story of how people, working together, can harness the power of community, scientific knowledge, and our growing awareness of the workings of nature to make a difference. The book begins with a foreword by Bill McKibben, a leading voice in the growing planetary movement for sustainability and community and author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and The Durable Future.
Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology includes Chestnut scenes from artists such as Winslow Homer, Seneca Ernie Smith, Andrew Wyeth, Charles Burchfield, and a generous selection of seldom-seen photographs of American chestnut throughout its history. Also with its pages is the real life account of “Chestnuts in my Life” by former President Jimmy Carter; Poems by Wendell Berry and Robert Frost; Chestnut folklore and anecdotes, including reminiscences from southern Appalachia to New England, along with historical newspaper chronicles of the tree before, during, and after the blight.; Chestnut reflections by plant geneticist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug, father of the “Green Revolution.” Colorful accounts of railroads and locomotives that logged mammoth chestnut trees in Appalachia, by Les Line, longtime editor of Audubon magazine. Along with Chestnut recollections and inspirations from Bill Owens, Dolly Parton’s uncle—a Tennessee mountain man, musician, and champion of the tree; excerpts from NY Times best-selling author Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, Prodigal Summer, about a curmudgeonly chestnut breeder and his cantankerous rural Virginia neighbor. Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology tells, in images and words, the story of the once mighty monarch of the eastern forests and the scientists who engaged in the struggle against “one of the greatest natural disasters in the history of forest biology”—perhaps the deadliest plant blight ever encountered. It is the story of the dedicated few who refused who give up like: the fearless plant explorer who tracked down the blight in war-torn China, the plant pathologists and geneticists who labored long and valiantly to understand the blight and find a way to thwart it. Finally, this is story of hope, of small but vital triumphs, as the secrets of the American chestnut and its deadly nemesis are gradually revealed. Assembled by and co-published with The American Chestnut Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the re-establishment of the American chestnut tree to its natural range.
Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology is a chronicle of an American icon and the struggle to bring it back to its place of honor in our forests and landscape.
Four billion trees. And only an isolated few survived.
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Reviews for
"Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology"
This is a review for "Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology" & Susan Freinkel's "American Chestnut: Life, Death & Rebirth of a Perfect Tree"
The American chestnut tree was once king of the forest. Its range stretched nearly the length of the eastern seaboard, from Maine to Georgia, and as far west as the Ohio Valley. Central to human economies,it also played a key role in the hardwood ecosystem. And then, in the late 1800s, an imported Asian fungus quickly killed a staggering 99.9 percent of the species; by 1950, only 50 to 100 trees remained of the estimated original four billion. Restoration attempts continue. Curiously, outside of the scientific literature, this sad, powerful story of death and rebirth has rarely been told, but two new titles fill
the gap wonderfully. Science journalist Freinkel's compact, entertaining history of the tree's demise and the many attempts to bring it back reads smoothly, like a well-written novel: the settings, whether deep in the heart of 1920s Appalachia or in a modern, upstate New York gene-splicing lab, are richly drawn; the "characters," be they human,
sylvan, or fungal, will entice many readers, perhaps even those with
only a perfunctory interest in trees. A delightful lack of squeamishness
distinguishes Freinkel's account. We read, for example, of one chestnut
breeder's complaint that his persnickety experimental subjects "didn't
give a shit that I was trying to help them." Descriptive detail is such
that one sometimes wonders how it was obtained: at a 1912 high-level
meeting to discuss blight containment strategies, the air, we are told,"was thick with a sense of urgency," and one of the participants "looked
weary as he took his place." This may be the stuff of fiction, but it
does not in any way detract from a thoroughly absorbing book.
In Mighty Giants, a celebratory publication of the 25th anniversary of
the American Chestnut Foundation, editor Bolgiano gathers photographs,
essays, poems, and personal recollections into a fascinating cornucopia
of all things chestnut. This includes a certain vernacular flair, as in
a local's description of old trees: "grea-a-at big, and they'd sprangle
out, have a big clustery top to'em." Images of the big trees evoke an
aching sense of what's lost, while stories of those trying to save them
are cause for hope and admiration. Although each title can stand on its
own, they work best in tandem. Both are highly recommended, even for
those libraries outside the chestnut belt.-
Robert Eagan, Windsor P.L., Ont. ("used with permission, Library Journal 2008")
Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology
Long before global warming became the go-to villain for biological crises, several key American tree species were decimated by disease. The American elm has been significantly impacted by Dutch elm disease, red and white oaks have been hit by oak wilt, and the American beech has been attacked by beech bark disease, among other cases. But the most critical situation has been with the American chestnut. This stately hardwood is one of the signature trees in the continent’s history, important to wildlife, native cultures, settlers, and generations of wood-based industries. Since the unexpected and unplanned arrival of a fungal blight about 1900, the American chestnut has been almost completely eradicated from its natural habitats, and despite significant research, a cure has yet to be discovered. In this title, the grand nature of this large species is explored in depth and with a sensitivity of its importance. Sponsored by The American Chestnut Foundation, this book will serve its readers well, with entries from a diverse cast of characters, including former president Jimmy Carter, botanists from the past and present, historians, and others. The contents include biological descriptions, historical encounters, oral histories from chestnut lovers spanning centuries of encounters, accounts of the arrival of the chestnut blight, and efforts to date at returning this tree to its established place of prominence.
Curiosity of The Bloomsbury Review, March/April 2008 by Lori Enth
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