217 ratings | 217 reviews | avg rating:4.70

Richard Adrian Reese’s Followers (197)

Richard’s Bookshelves

to-read (1)
currently-reading (9)
read (217)

Richard’s Friends (76)

Asif

4,159 books | 680 friends

Susan

2,276 books | 176 friends

Ashley

5,339 books | 201 friends

Erkan

297 books | 45 friends

Jacob Helfman

166 books | 10 friends

Wendy Bandurski-miller

375 books | 229 friends

Grant

263 books | 489 friends

David Smith

423 books | 275 friends

More friends…

Richard Adrian Reese

Goodreads Author

Born

in Pontiac, Michigan, The United States

Website

http://www.wildancestors.blogspot.com

Genre

History, Psychology, Spirituality

Member Since

October 2012

edit data

I grew up 30 miles northwest of Detroit, in a subdivision surrounded by forests, meadows, lakes, and farms. We kids spent a lot of time outdoors, and felt at home in nature. There was far more fun to be found in the woods than in sitting indoors with the latest gizmo, television.

In 1974, I earned a degree in history from Western Michigan University. My vision was to acquire land, live simply, and follow the winds of creativity. So, I worked and saved.

In 1992, I bought an old farmhouse near Lake Superior, in northern Michigan. For nine years, I spent far more time with wild animals than with humans. I lived without a refrigerator, water heater, television, or flush toilet. I heated with wood, bathed in a sauna, composted my waste, and melted I grew up 30 miles northwest of Detroit, in a subdivision surrounded by forests, meadows, lakes, and farms. We kids spent a lot of time outdoors, and felt at home in nature. There was far more fun to be found in the woods than in sitting indoors with the latest gizmo, television.

In 1974, I earned a degree in history from Western Michigan University. My vision was to acquire land, live simply, and follow the winds of creativity. So, I worked and saved.

In 1992, I bought an old farmhouse near Lake Superior, in northern Michigan. For nine years, I spent far more time with wild animals than with humans. I lived without a refrigerator, water heater, television, or flush toilet. I heated with wood, bathed in a sauna, composted my waste, and melted snow every winter, when my pump froze for months.

I feasted on the beauty of the northern lights, intense whiteout blizzards, deer, bears, coyotes, eagles, foxes, and beavers. I enjoyed an intimate experience with the living world that most mainstream people will never know.

I spent some time with native people. For them, the land, the life, the spirits, and everything else were sacred. This felt so much more coherent than the human-centered religious beliefs of the dominant culture. My years in the forest were a time of intense learning and healing, a great gift. Today, in consumer society, I feel like an outsider visiting a strange realm.

For more than 20 years, I have devoted much effort to understanding the turbulent saga of humankind. I’ve read mountains of books. We’ve created a way of life that is spectacularly unsustainable. It has no long-term future.

For the last six years, I’ve been studying and writing full time, seven days a week. Intensive learning invigorates critical thinking, and illuminates dodgy beliefs and myths. This leads to a state of mind that is strikingly different from the mainstream thinking that is closing the curtains on the future.

My goal is to help those who seek to learn, to help them ask deeper questions, to encourage them to think outside the box. Once the coming storms have passed, many huge obstacles to sustainable living will be gone. The path home will be long and challenging. It’s time to share what I’ve learned. I hope that some of it may be useful. Welcome!

Richard Reese Interview
...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Richard Adrian Reese questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Richard Adrian Reese’s books

Average rating: 4.0 · 21 ratings · 7 reviews · 3 distinct works

	What Is Sustainable: Remembering Our Way Home 4.15 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sustainable or Bust 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Understanding Sustainability 3.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Richard is Currently Reading

Richard Reese is currently reading

Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival

by Richard Heinberg

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Nov 04, 2025 01:25PM

Richard Reese is currently reading

Feed Us with Trees: Nuts and the Future of Food

by Elspeth Hay (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Sep 30, 2025 01:17PM

Richard Reese is currently reading

The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees

by Douglas W. Tallamy

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Aug 08, 2025 03:44PM

rss
Richard’s Recent Updates

Richard Reese is currently reading Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival by Richard Heinberg	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 04, 2025 01:25PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Power by Richard Heinberg. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Power by Richard Heinberg <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Richard Reese is currently reading Feed Us with Trees: Nuts and the Future of Food by Elspeth Hay (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 30, 2025 01:17PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Feed Us with Trees by Elspeth Hay. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Feed Us with Trees by Elspeth Hay <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Richard Reese is currently reading The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees by Douglas W. Tallamy	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 08, 2025 03:44PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Nature of Oaks by Douglas W. Tallamy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Nature of Oaks by Douglas W. Tallamy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Richard Reese is currently reading Sisters in Spirit: Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Influences on Early American Feminists by Sally Roesch Wagner	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 17, 2025 03:25PM · 1 like · like
Richard Reese is currently reading Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet by Kate Marvel	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 26, 2025 05:11PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Human Nature by Kate Marvel. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Human Nature by Kate Marvel <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Richard Reese is currently reading Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone by Minna Salami (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 06, 2025 03:03PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Sensuous Knowledge by Minna Salami. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Sensuous Knowledge by Minna Salami <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Richard Reese is currently reading Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest by Josephine Woolington	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 03, 2025 01:01PM · like
Richard Reese is currently reading Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography by Theodore Roosevelt	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 23, 2025 01:48PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Theodore Roosevelt by Theodore Roosevelt. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Theodore Roosevelt by Theodore Roosevelt <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Richard Reese made a comment on his review of Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters " Goodreads doesn’t like links in comments. McGuire, Bill, Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide, Icon Books, London, 2022. Read, Rupert and Samuel Alexan ...more "
Dec 26, 2023 02:31PM · see review