The writer, naturalist, and artist David Carroll illuminates the ecology and life histories the tree frogs, hawks, foxes, and the increasingly rare wood and spotted turtles he has been tracking for decades with the precision and passion that won him a 2006 MacArthur "genius" award.
Following theWater is the intensely observed chronicle of Carroll's annual March-to-November wetlands immersion?from the joy of the first turtle sighting in March to the gorgeously described, vibrant trilling of tree frogs ("lichen with eyes") in late May to the ancient sense of love and loss Carroll experiences each autumn when it is time once again to part with open water.
Illustrated with the author's fine pen-and-ink drawings,
Following theWater is a gorgeous evocation of nature, an utterly unique "admission ticket to a secret corner of the world" (Bill McKibben).
DAVID M. CARROLL is the author of
The Year of the Turtle, Trout Reflections, Self-Portrait with Turtles, and
Swampwalker's Journal, which won the prestigious John Burroughs Medal. In 2006 he won a MacArthur "genius" award for his work as a writer, artist, and naturalist. Carroll has been featured on
Today (where he reached down into swampy water, miraculously pulled up a turtle he knew, and told her history), in numerous newspapers and magazines, and in the most popular documentary in the history of New Hampshire public television. He is an active lecturer and consultant to conservation institutions throughout New England.