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From a Wooden Canoe: Reflections on Canoeing, Camping, and Classic Equipment
Jerry Dennis has earned a reputation as one of the finest writers on nature and the outdoors in America today. Now in From a Wooden Canoe , he turns his attention to old passions and discovers new reasons to appreciate them.
This engaging collection explores the quintessential American sports of canoeing and camping and pays tribute to the things worth keeping, from wooden canoes to pocket knives to cast-iron skillets. At a deeper level, it is about respect--for our possessions, for the natural world, for ourselves --and about the pleasures of a life well spent.
From a Wooden Canoe is a celebration of the good things and the simple pleasures of life outdoors. It's a book to be treasured, to be read on winter evenings and rainy afternoons, and to be kept handy on a cabin shelf.
This engaging collection explores the quintessential American sports of canoeing and camping and pays tribute to the things worth keeping, from wooden canoes to pocket knives to cast-iron skillets. At a deeper level, it is about respect--for our possessions, for the natural world, for ourselves --and about the pleasures of a life well spent.
From a Wooden Canoe is a celebration of the good things and the simple pleasures of life outdoors. It's a book to be treasured, to be read on winter evenings and rainy afternoons, and to be kept handy on a cabin shelf.
- GenresNonfictionNature
228 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
6 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Dennis
41 books45 followersJerry Dennis was born in Flint in 1954, and grew up in rural northern Michigan. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Louisville in 1981, after attending Northern Michigan University and Northwestern Michigan College.
As he began his writing career, he worked as a carpenter for five years. To date, he has written for many publications. Journalistic assignments sent him to Iceland, Chile, and extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Dennis married during this time to Gail. They currently live on the shores of Lake Michigan, not far from Traverse City.
Since 2000 he has been on the faculty of the University of Michigan's Bear River Writers Conference, where he teaches creative non-fiction and nature writing.
As of 2014, he is the author of ten books, his best known book is The Living Great Lakes, about his trip around the great lakes in a rickety ship. He was awarded a place on the Michigan Notable Books list for that book.
In 2014, in response to a pricing dispute between his publisher, MacMillan Press, and Amazon, Dennis set up his own publishing house, Big Maple Press, to produce books which will be sold only through independent booksellers.
His awards include: 2004 Michigan Notable Books, 2004 Sigurd Olsen Nature Writing Award, 2004 Great Lakes Culture Best Book Award Non-Fiction, 2004 The Stuart D. and Vernice M. Gross Award for Literature,
2003 Alumni Fellows Award, University of Louisville, College of Arts and Sciences,
1999 Michigan Author of the Year,
1993, 1996, 1998, and 2003 Best Book of the Year awarded by Outdoor Writers Association of America.
As he began his writing career, he worked as a carpenter for five years. To date, he has written for many publications. Journalistic assignments sent him to Iceland, Chile, and extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Dennis married during this time to Gail. They currently live on the shores of Lake Michigan, not far from Traverse City.
Since 2000 he has been on the faculty of the University of Michigan's Bear River Writers Conference, where he teaches creative non-fiction and nature writing.
As of 2014, he is the author of ten books, his best known book is The Living Great Lakes, about his trip around the great lakes in a rickety ship. He was awarded a place on the Michigan Notable Books list for that book.
In 2014, in response to a pricing dispute between his publisher, MacMillan Press, and Amazon, Dennis set up his own publishing house, Big Maple Press, to produce books which will be sold only through independent booksellers.
His awards include: 2004 Michigan Notable Books, 2004 Sigurd Olsen Nature Writing Award, 2004 Great Lakes Culture Best Book Award Non-Fiction, 2004 The Stuart D. and Vernice M. Gross Award for Literature,
2003 Alumni Fellows Award, University of Louisville, College of Arts and Sciences,
1999 Michigan Author of the Year,
1993, 1996, 1998, and 2003 Best Book of the Year awarded by Outdoor Writers Association of America.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 24, 2016
Delightful
Hi kenz :)
Hi Reilly:)
Hi kenz :)
Hi Reilly:)
August 3, 2024
I was simply delighted by this collection of short essays. I can say I've canoed, fished and camped many times in my life, and look forward to my next adventure, but the author is a far better outdoors person than I can ever hope to be. Yet, I certainly identified with many of his observations and what he found valuable and noteworthy. The black and white illustrations are beautiful, perfect. The writing is exquisite, bringing to mind the exact picture of what I have personally witnessed. My sentimentality kicked into overdrive as I reminisced many happy times camping with my sister, my partner, my father, all now gone from this earth. I will pass it along to only a worthy recipient who will appreciate it as much as I did.
November 21, 2025
“And maybe that’s the key to the appeal of canoeing, camping, fishing, hunting. Being out there is not just a way to greet the new day, it’s a way to be reawakened to it, to see it again with the eyes of children.”
A stunning, picturesque, nostalgic and humorous read. Dennis captures not only an image of canoeing the Great Lakes region, but evokes the experience for those of us who have been fortunate enough to venture out ourselves.
Side note, due to the nature of this book (being a compilation of short essays), it lends itself rather well to a toilet time read! One chapter is the perfect length for your time in the outhouse. Just an observation!
A stunning, picturesque, nostalgic and humorous read. Dennis captures not only an image of canoeing the Great Lakes region, but evokes the experience for those of us who have been fortunate enough to venture out ourselves.
Side note, due to the nature of this book (being a compilation of short essays), it lends itself rather well to a toilet time read! One chapter is the perfect length for your time in the outhouse. Just an observation!
Want to read
October 12, 2007Thanks Dad
October 11, 2011
Great little stories about camping equipment and his adventures with them. Perhaps a bit too nostolgic, but I like that.
November 25, 2014
Quick read. A collection of essays from an author i am very in tune with.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews