Genre: Natural History / ecology / nature writing and essays / conservation
ISBN: 978-1933392141
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Release Date: September 2006
No. of Pages: 264
Formats Available: hardcover, paperback, ebook
Sippewissett: Or, Life on a Salt Marsh
Tim Traver's Sippewissett is heir to a rich history of nature writing. Akin to classics like Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac and Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, the book forms an eloquent bridge between ecology and memory, science and art. Traver alternates between remembrances of the Cape Cod salt marsh where he spent his boyhood summers and the history of Sippewissett, a place that has been studied by many of America's great biologists, from Louis Agassiz to Rachel Carson.
There is poetry in his retelling of the past, a childhood of mud and tides and water; there is great love in the peace and satisfaction he finds later in life fishing and clamming and watching his own children discover the secrets of the marsh. Traver manages to weave these personal details into mesmerizing historical passages and meditations on the ecology of place that read like whodunits; one discovery leads to another, from the most beautiful dance of life to more somber considerations, such as the way the marsh can tell us so much about our environmental crises.
Sippewissett is an intimate exploration of place by a man of science and strong family bonds. Here is one of ecology's most studied places through the eyes of someone determined to make sense of its beauty and complexity—at once private and public—filled with poetry yet grounded in science, a place disappearing in the face of development and global climate change.
“Rarely can so much be so happily learned... Traver leaps into his salt creek home and where it takes him is never dull.”
“Tim Traver has created a wonderfully unique piece of genre blending in his elegant rumination on Sippewissett, the Cape Cod salt marsh he has known since childhood... Sippewissett is a rare book, as it both informs and entrances. A delight from beginning to end.”
“This lovely book made me miss a bus. The sounds of the motor and the opening doors were lost in the ebb and flow of saltwater, migratory fish, and family, and in Traver’s combination of humor and natural history with a deep meditation on the ecology of home.”
“Biologists (including Louis Agassiz and Rachel Carson) have long been drawn to the patch of Cape Cod marsh where Traver spent his boyhood summers and to which he still returns. His reflections on the fauna, flora, habitats, and human culture eloquently weave together ecology, history, and memory... And his treatment of sometimes contentious conservation issues demonstrates his recognition of the challenges facing those who wish to sustain their sense of home.”
“In this wonderful blend of natural history and memoir, Traver details both the ecology and the history of Sippewissett, describing the people and creatures that he encounters, and chronicles the daily turning of the tides. Educational, touching, and highly relevant in today’s changing ecological world, this marvelous book is highly recommended for public and academic libraries.”
“While the book is focused on his marsh, it is really about a man’s relation to nature on a large scale.”
“Tim Traver’s Sippewissett is a brilliant accomplishment replete with insight, wisdom, understanding, and passion... This is a book that is likely to endure, enrich, and inform for many years to come.”
“The science of home is a noble pursuit, and Cape Cod has spawned some of our finest literary naturalists. With Sippewissett, Traver joins the legacy of gifted seaside storytellers John Hay, Henry Beston, Henry David Thoreau, and Robert Finch.”
“Tim Traver’s Sippewissett speaks to us about matters of extreme urgency and does so in a voice we want to hear. It’s a powerfully smart and likable book.”