Selected essays describe the natural beauty of northern Minnesota and Canada, and share the author's experiences in the wild

Songs of the North (Penguin Nature Library)

Science & Math

Olson, Sigurd F.

Nature & Ecology

Penguin Group USA

By Sigurd F Olson - Listening Point (1958-07-12) [Hardcover]

Listening Point

History

Americas

KNOPF

The author, a life-long nature enthusiast, writes of the challenges nature has offered him in his travels in northern Wisconsin and throughout Canada

Open Horizons

Biographies & Memoirs

Regional U.S.

to do with the calling of loons, with northern lights, and the great silences of land lying northwest of Lake Superior. It is concerned with the simple joys, the timelessness and perspective found in a way of life which is close to the past. I have heard the singing in many places, but I seem to hear it best in the wilderness lake country of the Quetico-Superior, where travel is still by pack and canoe over the ancient trails of the Indians and voyageurs." Thus the author sets the theme and tone of this enthralling book of discovery about one of the few great primitive areas in our country which have withstood the pressures of civilization. Acute natural perceptivity and a profound knowledge of the relationships to be found in nature combine here in vivid evocations of the sights, the sounds, the vast stillnesses, and the events of the wilderness as the seasons succeed each other. But Mr. Olson is not content merely to "describe; he probes for meanings that will lead the reader to a different and more revealing way of looking at the out-of-doors and to a deeper sense of its eternal values. In each of the thirty-four chapters of The Singing Wilderness he has sought to capture an essential quality of our magnificent lake and forest heritage. He shows us what can be read from the rocks of the great Canadian Shield; he offers a delightful essay on the virtues of pine knots as fuel; he writes of the ways of a canoe, of flashing trout in the pools of the Isabella, of tamarack bogs, caribou moss, the flight of wild geese, timber wolves, and the birds of the ski trails. And much more, with something to satisfy every taste for wilderness experience. Superbly illustrated with 38 black-and-white drawings by Francis Lee Jaques, The Singing Wilderness is a book that no lover of nature will want to be without. To anyone who contemplates a vacation in the lake country of northern Minnesota and adjoining Canada, it is the perfect vade mecum.

Singing Wilderness

Literature & Fiction

A season-by-season selection of the best-loved writings of one of America's best-loved nature writers, illustrated with color photographs by J. Arnold Bolz and line drawings by Francis Lee Jaques, Robert Hines, and Leslie C. Kouba.

Sigurd F. Olson's Wilderness Days

Sm Quarto, Brown Buckrum Cloth, Gilt Lettered, Boxed With Inset Color Photos On Both Sides Of The Box (The Stock Photo Is Not Correct For this Limited Edition), PP.233, Color Photo Plates By J. Arnold Bolz, B &amp; W Sketches By Frances Lee Jaques, Robert Hines And Leslie Kouba, Maps, A Look Back At Some Of The Best of his Wilderness Writings

The author recounts his experiences fishing, traveling, and exploring wilderness areas in the United States and Canada

Of Time and Place

Written in the last years of his life, Reflections from the North Country is often considered Sigurd Olson's most intellectually significant work. In an account alive with anecdote and insight, Olson outlines the wilderness philosophy he developed while working as an outspoken advocate for the conservation of America's natural heritage.
Based on speeches delivered at town meetings and government hearings, this book joins The Singing Wilderness and Listening Point as the core of Olson's work. Upon its initial publication in 1976, Reflections from the North Country, with Olson's unique combination of lyrical nature writing and activism, became an inspiration to the burgeoning environmental movement, selling over 46,000 copies in hardcover.
In this wide-ranging work, Olson evokes the soaring grace of raven, osprey, and eagle, the call of the loon, and the song of the hermit thrush. He challenges the reader to loosen the grasp of technology and the rush of contemporary life and make room for a sense of wonder heightened by being in nature. From evolution to the meaning and power of solitude, Olson meditates on the human condition, offering eloquent testimony to the joys and truths he discovered in his beloved north-country wilderness.

Reflections from the North Country (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage)

Univ. of Minnesota Press

In Runes of the North Sigurd Olson explores his feelings about the haunting appeal of the wilderness. He recounts how the legends of the northern vastness of Canada and Alaska have influenced him.
In the introduction, Olson writes, "My runes have come from the wilderness, for in its solitude, silence, and freedom .... I know there are moments of insight when ancient truths do stand out more vividly, and one senses anew his relationship to the earth and to all life".
Runes of the North explores these values, insights, and truths. Olson weaves the tales and myths with his own stories and experiences as an explorer, writer, grandfather, and biologist. "This inner world has to do with the wilderness from which we came", he writes, "timelessness, cosmic rhythms, and the deep feelings men have for an unchanged environment".
Olson tells of Native American legends and traditions, like dream catchers and wild rice harvests, as well as the pure pleasure of the Finnish sauna. Each story portrays the special magic one finds in the wilderness and is filled with moments, that Olson writes, "are worth waiting for, and when they come in some unheralded instant of knowing, they are of the purest gold".

Runes Of The North (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage)

Of Time and Place is a legacy from one of the best-loved nature writers of our time. In this, his last book, completed just before his death, Sigurd F. Olson guides readers through his wide-ranging memories of a lifetime dedicated to the preservation of the wilderness. Like his other best-selling books, Of Time and Place is filled with beauty, adventure, and wonder.
Olson recalls his many friendships of trail and woods and portage, his favorite campsites, the stories behind the artifacts and mementos hanging in his cabin at Listening Point. Whether he is remembering canoe trips with his friends, admiring the playful grace of the otter, or pondering the Earth's great cycles of climatic change, these moving and evocative essays reaffirm Olson's stature as one of the greatest nature writers of this century.

Of Time And Place (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage)

Professionals & Academics

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Olson, Sigurd F.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Olson, Sigurd F.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Olson, Sigurd F.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Songs of the North (Penguin Nature Library)

Listening Point

Open Horizons

Singing Wilderness

Sigurd F. Olson's Wilderness Days

Sigurd F. Olson's Wilderness Days

Of Time and Place

Reflections from the North Country (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage)

Runes Of The North (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage)

Of Time And Place (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage)