D.E.A.R. Williams,
Terry Tempest Williams is an American writer, educator, and a fierce advocate for our public lands, environmental justice and freedom of speech. She is from Utah and and much of her writing is influenced by the American west and her love of the desert.
She earned a Bachelor’s in English and minor in biology and went on to get a Master’s in Environmental Education. Williams has been a science teacher at national parks, a local school in Salt Lake City, and the University of Utah as a teaching fellow. Being an educator, specifically in the field of science, helped Williams find her voice as a writer. To tell kids compelling stories about large ecological concepts and communicate it in a way they could understand is invaluable.
Known for her heartfelt and poetic literature, Terry Tempest Williams is the author of the environmental literature classic, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place.
Published in 1991, this book discusses family relationships, grieving, and the flooding of a bird sanctuary. In the spring of 1983, Terry Tempest Williams learned that her mother was dying of cancer. That same season, water levels on The Great Salt Lake began to rise, threatening Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, home to thousands of bird species, and a place Williams had come to love. Resident birds were driven away from the freshwater oasis.
“She realized her refuge was no longer in her mother, grandmother, or even the birds at Bear River, but in her capacity to love.” With much of her family affected by cancer, including many friends from her local community, Williams believes it is because they are downwind of above-ground nuclear testing during 1950s and 60s. This book documents personal tragedies, blaming the American government for causing the cancer, threats to a beloved bird sanctuary, the importance of preserving nature and the harms of human intervention on nature.
Williams has managed to turn one of life’s greatest losses into a spiritual journey that honors her mother, grandmother, nature, and herself.
You can find her books in the USFWS Conservation Library. We hope to inspire you to “Drop Everything And Read” this April. To learn more about Terry Tempest Williams and her work, visit her page. Make everyday a D.E.A.R. day!
