If you’re still looking for holiday stocking stuffers, consider the following nature-oriented calendar and books.
My friend TED GLASOE, an environmental advocate and an award-winning nature photographer who loves Lake Michigan even more than I do, offers a 2020 calendar that features breathtaking images of our beautiful inland sea. You can purchase it at his website, and through Greatlakesmade.com. Ted’s calendar, as well as his greeting cards, are also available at a store called Shaker Traditions (613 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL 60201, Facebook). Additonally, click here to read my interview with Ted, “Nature Photographer Discusses His Love of Lake Michigan and What We Can Do to Protect It.”
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Over the years at Nature in Chicagoland, I’ve had the chance to interview several authors about nature, amazing spots in the Midwest such as The Driftless Area, and environmental pioneers. Their books are great gifts for people who love the environment and who’d like to learn about some great destinations in Chicagoland and the greater Midwest.
DR. KEVIN KOCH is a Professor of English at Loras College and the author of The Driftless Land: Spirit of Place in the Upper Mississippi Valley, Skiing At Midnight: A Nature Journal from Dubuque County, Iowa, and The Thin Places: A Celtic Landscape from Ireland to the Driftless. To learn more about The Driftless Land and his books, check out my article, “Author and Professor Discusses the Magical Driftless Area.”
CINDY CROSBY is the author of Tallgrass Conversations: In Search of the Prairie Spirit, The Tallgrass Prairie: An Introduction, and Chasing Dragonflies: A Natural and Cultural History (forthcoming in 2020). Crosby also teaches natural history subjects, regularly speaks to conservation groups and other organizations, and is a steward at the 3,500-acre-plus Nachusa Grasslands in Franklin Grove, Illinois, and steward supervisor at the Schulenberg Prairie at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. To learn more about tallgrass prairies and her books, check out my article, “Author Discusses the Joys of the Tallgrass Prairie.”
ARTHUR MELVILLE PEARSON is the author of Force of Nature: George Fell, Founder of the Natural Areas Movement. He is also the past-director of the Chicago Program at the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, which helps protect and restore natural lands in the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina. His writing has appeared in Chicago Wilderness, Outdoor Illinois, and other publications. To learn more about George Fell and to read my interview with Arthur, check out my article, “George Fell: A Tireless Advocate for Nature in Illinois.”
AMY BIZZARRI is the author of 111 Places in Chicago That You Must Not Miss, The Best Hits on Route 66: 100 Essential Stops on the Mother Road, 111 Places for Kids in Chicago You Must Not Miss (which was just published), and other books and articles about Chicagoland and the Midwest. Click here to read my interview with Amy about 111 Places in Chicago That You Must Not Miss.
CAN I TAKE A FEW MOMENTS TO TOUT MY OWN PUBLICATIONS? Yes, I can. I founded my company College & Career Press back in 2002 to provide trusted resources for students and their parents, as well as school counselors, librarians, and teachers. My college-planning books and newsletter are perfect gifts for college-bound teens. And my career-planning books and newsletter will be helpful for those who need info on the latest hot careers, or if you’ve got one of those kids in their 40s who has returned home and lays on your couch all day not knowing what he or she wants to do in life (other than picking your fridge clean). My books also are good for steadying wobbly furniture and to start fires in a post-apocalyptic world, but not for stopping a bullet. Here are some of my publications to check out and some great reviews from library journals, career columnists, and the “average joe”:
- They Teach That in College!?: A Resource Guide to More Than 100 Interesting College Majors, 3rd Edition was selected as “A Perfect Ten” by the library journal Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA). The book, along with 10 other winners, was chosen from a total of 1,223 books reviewed by VOYA as earning the highest ratings for literary quality and teen appeal.
- Hot Health Care Careers: 30 Occupations with Fast Growth and Many New Job Openings, 2nd Edition: “Enthusiastically recommended for public and college library collections, as well as the reading lists of students and labor market entrants.” –Small Press Bookwatch
- Nontraditional Careers for Women and Men: More Than 30 Great Jobs for Women and Men with Apprenticeships Through PhDs: “This work does a fine job highlighting careers that may not immediately spring to mind for the student or second-career seeker.” –Booklist
- College Spotlight newsletter: “Delivers up-to-date reporting on career-related education resources that high school students need to make promising choices.” –Joyce Lain Kennedy, Tribune Media Services
- CAM Report career newsletter: “I’m thrilled to have this material at my fingertips.” –Subscriber
I also write this blog, Nature in Chicagoland, which is in semi-hibernation today given the preponderance of art, music, and other creative talk in this post, and The Morkes Report Blog: College and Career Planning Trends.
Copyright (text) Andrew Morkes
Copyright (photos) All profile subjects hold the rights to images of their work.
Nature in Chicagoland. 
Some interesting book recommendations. Thanks.
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Glad that they are useful; thank you for checking out my blog.
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