Richard Louv is the author of nine books, including Last
Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit
Disorder and The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with life
in a Virtual Age. His most recent book is Vitamin N: The
Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich Life. His books have been
translated into 20 languages and helped launch an international
movement to connect children and their families to nature.
He is the recipient of the 2008 Audubon Medal. Past recipients
include Rachel Carson, E.O. Wilson and Jimmy Carter. Among other
awards, Louv received the 2007 Cox Award, Clemson University’s
highest honor for “sustained achievement in public service.” Louv
is also co-founder and chairman emeritus of the Children & Nature
Network (www.childrenandnature.org), an organization helping build
the movement to connect today’s children and future generations to
the natural world. Louv coined the term Nature-Deficit Disorder®
which has become the defining phrase of this important issue. He
has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post,
the Times of London, Orion, Outsideand other
newspapers and magazines, and was a columnist for The San
Diego Union-Tribuneand Parents magazine.
He has served as an adviser to the Ford Foundation’s Leadership for
a Changing World award program, and is a member of the Citistates
Group, the editorial board of the journal, Ecopsychology. He
is a member of the board of directors of ecoAmerica, a nonprofit
focused on climate change. He appears often on national radio and
television programs, including the Today Show, CBS Morning, Good
Morning America, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, and NPR’s
Fresh Air. He travels frequently to address national and
international gatherings. In 2010, he delivered the plenary keynote
at the national conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics,
and in 2012 was keynote speaker at the first White House Summit on
Environmental Education.
Married to Kathy Frederick Louv, he is the father of two young men,
Jason and Matthew. He would rather hike than write.
Drawn mainly from Louv's column for the San Diego Union Tribune, this collection of short essays includes journalistic snapshots of people he has interviewed, reminiscences of his childhood, and musings of his interactions with family and friends. Although his subtitle suggests a unifying theme of "values," there is actually little cohesion among the essays. Louv (Childhood's Future, LJ 11/15/90) jumps from homelessness and Mr. Rogers to Navajo spirits and $70 pet lizards. The choppy, fragmented style also detracts from the book's appeal. Not recommended.‘Ilse Heidmann, Kyle Community Lib., San Marcos, Tex.
The importance of connecting through memory and common humanity is the overriding theme that concerns Louv, a journalist and author (Childhood's Future), in this collection of thoughtful, persuasive essays. Because the family is the first community a child knows, the author believes that family stories handed down from one generation to the next are a unique gift that helps people put their lives in context. Louv describes the power of oral history in Native American life and expresses concern that an overload of information and lack of leisure prevent many of us from preserving our family memories. Louv also describes his efforts to connect his own children to nature by teaching them to fish and to become aware of their relationship to wildlife. Although not traditionally religious, Louv advocates cultivating a spiritual awareness to stay in touch and connect with a world outside the individual or the family. Author tour. (May)
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