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Who: Curt MeineWhat: an evening celebrating We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
Where: The Landing Market
When: Tuesday, 10/7 at 7:00pm (6:30pm social)
Curt Meine (editor, We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy by Paul Johnson) will give a presentation and Q&A session followed by a book signing on Tuesday, October 7 at 7pm at The Landing Market at 211 College Dr., Decorah. (Doors open at 6:30.) Everyone is invited to this free event sponsored by the Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy and the Oneota Valley Literary Foundation, as well as the Iowa Coldwater Conservancy, Trout Unlimited Driftless, Winneshiek County Soil & Water Conservation District, and the Aldo Leopold Foundation, with support from The Landing Market and Dragonfly Books.
Paul Johnson had the soul of a poet, the heart of a farmer who loved the land, and the grit of a public servant who stood by his principles and knew how to find common ground to get the job done. Who better than longtime friend of Paul and Aldo Leopold biographer Curt Meine to capture the essence of Paul Johnson in this collection?–Bill Berry, Author, Banning DDT: How Citizen Activists in Wisconsin Led the Way
We Can Do Better, published by Ice Cube Press, brings together the writings of Iowa farmer, conservationist, and policymaker Paul Johnson (1941-2021). As a state legislator, state and national agency leader, and champion of private lands conservation, Johnson was a prominent figure in the sustainable agriculture movement for more than three decades. Agriculture, he held, “involves more than food and fiber and fuel. It’s the care of all life.” In his public and private life, he pursued that vision through pragmatic steps to bring farming and conservation together. He is remembered especially as the co-creator of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.
Throughout his career, Johnson wrote regularly about his experience in the public arena. In his writings he described his hopes and actions to build an American landscape that would produce not only food, but “clean water and air, biological diversity, wildness, and beauty.” Johnson’s friend and colleague, conservation biologist and writer Curt Meine, has collected these writings and provides a biographical introduction that places them in the context of their times. Readers will follow, through Johnson’s words, a trail that stretches from the farm crisis of the 1980s to today’s array of conservation needs, challenges, and opportunities.
Meine is senior fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation and the Center for Humans and Nature; ; research associate with the International Crane Foundation; and associate adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His other books include the biography Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work and The Driftless Reader.
This event is part of Dragonfly Books and the Oneota Valley Literary Foundation’s robust author event series, which brings top-notch writers of all genres to Northeast Iowa to lead in conversations about literature and writing. The event is co-hosted by The Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy, which honors the conservation legacy of Paul W. Johnson by supporting writing and communication on land ethics, hosting forums on working lands conservation, providing support to students and other emerging leaders , and advocating for policies that advance land stewardship.. To learn more about this event and other events with Dragonfly Books, visit www.dragonflybooks.com. To learn more about the Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy, visit www.landcommunity.org.
If you can't make it to the event but would still like to purchase any books from this author talk, give Dragonfly Books a call at 563-382-4275. Our staff will be glad to reserve a book, have it autographed for you, and ship it as needed.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Landing Market, 211 College Dr,Decorah, Iowa, United States
