Now Available - "A Road Running Southward: Following John Muir’s Journey through an Endangered Land"

A Road Running Southward by Dan Chapman

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In "A Road Running Southward" Dan Chapman retraces John Muir's journey through the South, exploring how to balance population growth with protecting nature.

An engaging hybrid — part lyrical travelogue, part investigative journalism and part jeremiad, all shot through with droll humor.”

— The Atlanta Journal Constitution

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, May 31, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- John Muir, the “father of the national parks,” began his journey as an environmentalist on a road running South, traipsing from Kentucky to Florida and recording the botanical wonders he encountered. One hundred and fifty

years later, the vibrant landscape he walked has been decimated by sprawl. For veteran Atlanta reporter Dan Chapman, witnessing these environmental ills inspired him to retrace Muir’s journey in search of an answer to a simple question: what remains?

In "A Road Running Southward: Following John Muir's Journey through an Endangered Land" (Publication Date: May 26, 2022), Chapman journeys from Louisville, Kentucky, to the Gulf Coast, celebrating the remarkable natural beauty of the South and exploring the myriad threats to its biodiversity and dwindling resources. Using humor, keen observation, and a deep love of place, Chapman seeks to discover how Southerners might balance surging population growth with protecting one of the most biodiverse regions in world.

Channeling Muir, Chapman sleeps overnight in Savannah’s historic Bonaventure Cemetery, a scenic refuge that had transformed the budding naturalist’s relationship with the natural world. In Kingston, Tennessee, Chapman attends the second annual Muir festival and learns about a catastrophic coal ash spill, a toxic example of the environmental harm caused by coal ash dump sites throughout the South. And while following Muir’s footsteps through Florida, Chapman swims in a crystalline spring and discovers how cities and farms are irreparably damaging the Floridan aquifer, one of the most productive in the world.

Along the way, Chapman delves into the unique natural history of each region, moving between John Muir’s vivid descriptions of a lush botanical paradise and the many environmental problems facing the South today. Speaking with locals who hold deep ties to the land – scientists, oystermen, riverkeepers, and even a Muir impersonator – Chapman hears first-hand accounts about the South’s changing landscape and the cherished connections to nature that so many people are fighting to protect.

Part travelogue, part environmental cri de coeur, "A Road Running Southward" paints a vibrant portrait of the South’s beauty and biodiversity. As urban development continues expanding throughout the region, Chapman offers a passionate appeal to safeguard the South’s remarkable, and increasingly threatened, natural resources.

Dan Chapman is a writer, reporter, and lover of the outdoors. He grew up in Washington DC and Tokyo, the son of a newspaperman and an English teacher. He worked for "Congressional Quarterly", "The Winston-Salem Journal", "The Charlotte Observer", and "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution". He has also reported from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He currently writes stories about conservation in the South for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"[Alternates] between jeremiad and dark satire...[where] walking, for Mr. Chapman, is a form of activism as well as personal penance, a way of making himself see, and feel, the drastic changes in a lacerated landscape he still loves." — "Wall Street Journal"

"Dan Chapman balances grave outlook with wry humor in new book...an engaging hybrid — part lyrical travelogue, part investigative journalism and part jeremiad, all shot through with droll humor.... [with an] immersive, sometimes mischievous approach....His easy enthusiasm is infectious enough to make ardent tree huggers of us all." — "The Atlanta Journal Constitution"

"Chapman offers a lucid feature-story narrative with a splash of gonzo…. Chapman may be following Muir’s footprints, but as a work of environmental consciousness-raising, this book’s true inspiration may be Rachel Carson." — "Booklist"

"A Road Running Southward: Following John Muir's Journey through an Endangered Land"
Island Press Hardcover | Publication Date: May 26, 2022
256 pages | 6x9 | Price: $28.00
ISBN: 978-1-64283-194-8
Book Page: https://islandpress.org/books/road-running-southward

Founded in 1984, Island Press works to stimulate, shape, and communicate the information that is essential for solving environmental problems. Today, with more than 1,000 titles in print and some 30 new releases each year, it is the nation’s leading publisher of books on environmental issues. Island Press is driving change by moving ideas from the printed page to public discourse and practice. Island Press’s emphasis is, and will continue to be, on transforming objective information into understanding and action. For more information and further updates be sure to visit www.islandpress.org.