I've just finished writing a book about twelve species of trees from around the world. People ask me, "why these trees?" The best answer, really, that I've been able to give is that they all have abundant stories of survival to tell. But more personally, they're like friends I've met or been introduced to: some quiet and shy, some brash and in-your-face. Others were introduced by different friends, and still others I simply came upon, in a grove of trees somewhere, and became known to each other.