Bruce Stutz

A look at the people, places, wildlife, and history of the Delaware River, with a particular emphasis on the natural habitats it provides for plants and animals, on people who live (or once lived) traditional lifestyles along the river, such as fishing or farming, and on how the river has changed, often in troubling and destructive ways, over the course of time.

I grew up in the Delaware Valley, myself, but my particular piece of New Jersey was a wasteland of seemingly endless suburban sprawl, and my views of the shores of the Delaware consisted largely of the slums of Camden on one side and the streets of Philadelphia on the other. So it was interesting to me, at least in principle, to get a broader look at a river I never knew quite as well as I should have. And this is a very broad look, as Stutz covers a lot of ground, spending time with everyone from muskrat trappers to historians to biologists to kids on a canoe trip.

But, I must say, the book itself varied a lot in how interesting I found it, with some sections I found engaging, and others that seemed to drag rather badly. And while overall it follows the geography of the river, heading upstream as it goes along, it feels very, very rambly and not particularly structured. It's also probably a bit dated, as it was published in 1990, and the future of many of the places and people Stutz talks about was already very uncertain then. On the other hand, many of the environmental issues he brings up are no doubt still extremely relevant.

I think this is one of those books I wouldn't necessarily recommend to someone who's just looking for some good nature writing in general, because as nature writing it's okay, and it makes some good points, but it doesn't particularly stand out. On the other hand, if you have a specific interest in the Delaware and the past, present and future of its people and environment, it may well be the book you want to read. Although I'm not entirely sure whether it's still in print or not.… (more)

Bruce Stutz is a 56 year old Jewish naturalist writer from Brooklyn who after a heart-valve surgery decides to drive across the USA following the progress of Spring, moving generally from south to north (map of route included). I was drawn to this because I have driven across the USA on solo trips with no particular itinerary just exploring and was interested in traveling with a like-minded soul and seeing it from another perspective. Some of the highlites of the trip include small town mardi gras celebrations in Louisiana, the Punxsutawney Phil groundhog day, a tour of the now-defunct Biosphere and its lone remaining tour-guide/guard, hiking the deserts of AZ, the sandhills of Nebraska underneath which lies the largest aquafier of water in North America, difficult climbing in the mountains near Denver, birding on the salt flats, mushroom picking in the OR Cascade Mountains with Asian pickers (a fascinating and new phenomenon to me), flying into the ANWAR in Alaska with bush pilots.

Throughout Stutz emphasis es the nature of change not only of the season into Spring, but of the changing weather and climate of the planet and how this is effecting the natural world visably today. Never preachy, it is a gentle and beautiful road-trip in a gas-guzzling 1983 Chevy, appropriately nick-named "Moby Dick" for its large "whale" of a size, white color, and for anyone who has read the novel, a metaphor for the elements of life that are out of our control. A book well worth reading for anyone interested in travel, nature, a changing world and the promise of Spring around the corner on a winters evening.… (more)