Often compared to the American naturalist Henry David Thoreau, Dillard—a novelist, memoir writer, essayist, poet, and author of books about the natural world—is best known for her acute observation of the land, the seasons, the changing weather, and the wildlife within her intensely seen environment. Though born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 30, 1945, Dillard's vision of nature's violence and beauty was most fully developed living in Virginia, where she received her B.A., 1967, and M.A., 1968, from Hollins College. She also lived in the Pacific Northwest from 1975–1979 as scholar-in-residence at the University of Western Washington, in Bellingham, and is adjunct professor of English and writer in residence at Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut, where she lives with her husband, Bob Richardson, and her daughter, Rosie. Since 1973, she has also been a columnist for The Living Wilderness, the magazine of...