Through the course of his journey to raise awareness and fight for the preservation of nature, John Muir had written countless writings, ranging from books, articles, and journals. Listed below are some of the notable few:
BOOKS
The Yosemite (1912)
A book that documents Muir’s experience in detail, The Yosemite brings its readers back to the time before humans started leaving more of their marks on the national park. Through this book, Muir also relays to his readers the beauty of Nature and the importance of having a mindful and pro-environmental attitude in our daily lives.
The Story of My Boyhood and Youth (1913)
In this well-written book, Join Muir recollects the early years of his life that ultimately shaped his environmental values and his religious beliefs. It gives the readers an insight into his life to better understand what motivated him through his quest to protect and preserve Mother Nature later on.
ARTICLES
The National Parks and Forest Reservations (1896)
Initially written for the meeting of the Sierra Club in 1895, Muir addresses the importance of preserving natural landscapes and vegetations. Both the magnificence of Nature and its vulnerability to destruction is not to be taken lightly of, for once lost it would be close to impossible to bring back the glory that nature once had.
JOURNALS
John Muir’s Last Great Journey (2001)
Published almost a century after the passing of John Muir, this book was penned by the Father of the National Parks himself, detailing the accounts of his last great eight-month journey to South America and Africa from 1911 – 1912. Whilst mostly overlooked by critics, Muir views this as one of the most important adventures of his life.
In a letter to a friend in 1912, John wrote “I am now writing up some notes, but when they will be ready for publication I do not know…. It will be a long time before anything is arranged in book form.”
It seems that Muir had a prenotion of his death, and hence this journey was possibly his last opportunity to fulfill his lifelong dreams.