Whispers and Shadows: A Naturalist’s Memoir

by Jerry Apps

In these times of technological innovation and fast-paced electronic communication, we often take nature for granted―or even consider it a hindrance to our human endeavors. In Whispers and A Naturalist’s Memoir, Jerry Apps explores such topics as the human need for wilderness, rediscovering a sense of wonder, and his father’s advice to “listen for the whispers” and “look in the shadows” to learn nature’s deepest lessons.
 
Combining his signature lively storytelling and careful observations of nature, Apps draws on a lifetime of experiences, from his earliest years growing up on a central Wisconsin farm to his current ventures as gardener, tree farmer, and steward of wetlands, prairies, and endangered Karner blue butterflies. He also takes inspiration from the writings of Aldo Leopold, Annie Dillard, Henry David Thoreau, Sigurd Olson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Muir, Barbara Kingsolver, Wendell Berry, Richard Louv, and Rachel Carson. With these eloquent essays, Jerry Apps reminds us to slow down, turn off technology, and allow our senses to reconnect us to the natural world. For it is there, he writes, that “I am able to return to a feeling I had when I was a child, a feeling of having room to stretch my arms without interfering with another person, a feeling of being a small part of something much larger than I was, and I marvel at the idea.”

141 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2015

About the author

Jerold W. Apps, born and raised on a Wisconsin farm, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of more than 30 books, many of them on rural history and country life. His nonfiction books include: Living a Country Year, Every Farm Tells a Story, When Chores Were Done, Humor from the Country, Country Ways and Country Days, One-Room Schools, Cheese, Breweries of Wisconsin, Ringlingville USA (History of Ringling Brothers circus), Old Farm: A History, Barns of Wisconsin, Horse Drawn Days: A Century of Farming With Horses, and Campfires and Loon Calls. His children's books include: Stormy, Eat Rutabagas, Tents, Tigers and the Ringling Brothers, and Casper Jaggi: Master Swiss Cheese Maker. He has an audio book, The Back Porch and Other Stories. Jerry has published four novels, The Travels of Increase Joseph, In a Pickle: A Family Farm Story, Blue Shadows Farm and Cranberry Red. Jerry is a former publications editor for UW-Extension, an acquisitions editor for the McGraw-Hill Book Company, and editor of a national professional journal.

Jerry has won awards for his writing from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Library Association (the 2007 Notable Authors Award), American Library Association, Foreword Magazine, Midwest Independent Publishers Association, Robert E. Gard Foundation, The Wisconsin Council for Writers (the 2007 Major Achievement Award), Upper Midwest Booksellers, and Barnes and Noble Bookstores, among others. In 2010 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Check www.jerryapps.com for more information.

Reviews

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky to attend a talk by Jerry Apps at the wonderful Middleton,WI library which I greatly enjoyed and I learned about this book.

In the wonderful short essays, Jerry talks about his early life, the wonderful lessons he learned from his parents, and the joys of growing up on a farm and learning to truly appreciate nature.
"As children we naturally use all our senses. But as the years pass, we rely more and more on just seeing and hearing - and sometimes those fail us as well. Using all of our senses is necessary to truly know nature. And as my father so often reminded me, looking in the shadows and listening for the whispers requires that I hone all of my senses."

Jerry and his wife now divide their time between their home in Madison and their farm, Roshara, near Wild Rose. When he needs a break from the hustle and bustle in Madison, Jerry heads to the farm. What he experiences when his is there carries a good lesson for all of us.

"There I can come out from behind myself and look around and reevaluate my life and my work. I might retreat to the depths of my oak woods and merely sit, doing nothing, listening to the sounds of nature all around and experiencing peace. Or I might sit on top of the hill that looks out over my prairie, where there is nothing but clouds and sky and the quiet sound of the wind moving through the grasses. There I am able to return to a feeling I had when I was a child, a feeling of having room to stretch my arms without interfering with another person,a feeling of being a small part of something much larger than I was, and I marvel at the idea."

Read and enjoy this book, it is a treasure.

[Paul Sparks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm hoping to finish this before his talk on Sunday at Schlitz Audubon. If I don't, at least I'll have a head start.

[Crafty Cristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books about experiences in nature really sooth my soul. This one is definitely on my list of the best nature writers.

In this book, Mr. Apps wrote each chapter like a short story. Each chapter stands alone, which is great if you are reading for a little calm in a hectic world. That way, if you have to set it aside for a few weeks, you can still get a little reading done. You can start where you stopped without having to review what has happened so far.

I think those who enjoy Wendell Berry or Also Leopold (A Sand County Almanac) would enjoy this book as well.

[Brandon Cope · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an easy to digest, honest portrayal of how being enveloped by nature can change your life and have an impact on future generations. Jerry Apps references great writers and notable literature that influenced his nature ethics, but you can almost see and feel his true happiness when he mentions lessons from his Pa and Ma and growing up at the farm. Being taught daily without really knowing it at the time-wanting those memories to grow and swell and be passed to his kids and grandkids. I'm excited to devour his other books, especially being a fellow Wisconsinite.

[Jennifer Barstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching book about life growing up on a Wisconsin farm. He did a great job with descriptions and what it felt like. I also liked how he talked about what it's like now as an adult and showing his kids and grandchildren what nature is really like.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apps, Jerry. Whispers and Shadows: A Naturalist's Memoir. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2015.
I always hope Jerry Apps will go into more detail about delving into nature. He seems to skirt many of the topics.

[Norma Dushack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of book I like to read in the morning out on my deck. You know the kind of morning when you read a chapter and then watch mother nature-- birds, trees ect.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

A slow person telling of the good life one can have living off the taxes collected by the government.

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

RAHHH I LOVE JERRY APPS AND NATURE ANTHOLOGIES AND WISCONSIN RURAL HISTORY

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four plus stars.

[Janet Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerry Apps is a prolific and local Naturalist and author. This was a very sweet little book about why and how we should stay connected to our environment.