The Scottish nature writer Jim Crumley takes the Slightly Foxed team on a tour of literary landscapes, from the lochs of the Trossachs and the mountainous Cairngorms to Aldo Leopold’s sand county in Wisconsin and Barry Lopez’s Arctic. Together they trace the chain of writers who have influenced Jim, from Robert Burns and Wordsworth to Thoreau and Walt Whitman, and see nature through the eyes of his hero, the great Scottish naturalist and photographer Seton Gordon. They discuss how folklore has demonized the wolf while Jim believes its reintroduction could hugely benefit the ecology of the Scottish landscape. And finally they venture off the beaten track with this month’s wide-ranging reading recommendations.
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Show Notes
Please find links to books, articles, and further reading listed below. The digits in brackets following each listing refer to the minute and second they are mentioned. (Episode duration: 40 minutes; 24 seconds)
Books Mentioned
We may be able to get hold of second-hand copies of the out-of-print titles listed below. Please get in touch with Jess in the Slightly Foxed office for more information.
– An Englishman’s Commonplace Book, Roger Hudson (1:14)
– A Boy at the Hogarth Press & A Parcel of Time, Richard Kennedy (6:40)
– Jim Crumley’s Seasonal Quartet: The Nature of Autumn, The Nature of Winter, The Nature of Spring, The Nature of Summer (11:03)
– The Cairngorm Hills of Scotland, The Charm of Skye and Amid Snowy Wastes, Seton Gordon are out print, but some Seton Gordon titles are available from Trieste Publishing (14:11)
– A High and Lonely Place, Jim Crumley (15:49)
– A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold (18:14)
– Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez (18:43)
– The Last Wolf, Jim Crumley (22:54)
– Highland River, Neil Gunn is currently out of stock at the publisher (31:07)
– Featherhood, Charlie Gilmour (33:28)
– The Silver Dark Sea, Susan Fletcher (35:13)
– A Month in Siena, Hisham Matar (36:12)
– The Hunting Party, Lucy Foley (38:00)
Related Slightly Foxed Articles
– Word from the Wood, Galen O’Hanlon on A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold, Issue 54 (18:14)
– Northern Lights, Penelope Lively on Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez, Issue 4 (18:43)
Other Links
– An Englishmans’ Commonplace Book ‘launch party’ at John Sandoe Books (1:19)
– The Art Workers’ Guild (1:54)
– Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park (8:37)
– Saraband, independent publisher (12:20)
– Jim Crumley, The Scots Magazine (31:56)
Opening music: Preludio from Violin Partita No.3 in E Major by Bach
The Slightly Foxed Podcast is hosted by Philippa Lamb and produced by Podcastable
I’ve listened to all of your wonderful podcasts, waiting eagerly for each one. I especially enjoyed Stet, on editing. I wanted to climb through my screen and sit at the table and chime in. I almost always buy some of the books discussed in the podcasts!
Once again I’ve so enjoyed the podcast! I always come away with at least a couple of recommendations I just have to read and as a result greatly widened the breadth of my reading. When I listen to you all, and the dogs barking in the background I feel that I’m among friends. I used to work in London and visited the British Museum in my lunch breaks and your descriptions of Bloomsbury took me back to my 20s and was so nostalgic for me.
Keep doing what you do so well . . . I’m so glad to have found you.
Best wishes
Philippa
I always enjoy your podcasts very much, but this latest one with Jim Crumley as the guest speaker had me absolutely enthralled. What an interesting man, and so erudite! I particularly loved his comments about the wolf and how it has been so transformative to the rest of nature since its reintroduction to America’s Yellowstone Park and how it could also be so here in Europe ‘if we dare’ – what a telling phrase, so heavily laden with possibilities!
Thank you so much for keeping us all sane with your wonderful podcasts and an eclectic list of interesting speakers. The 15th of each month is truly a beacon of comfort for many of us, especially in these trying times!