In the tradition of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Berry also began writing about his surroundings. But unlike Thoreau and Emerson, who were simply visitors to the natural environments they wrote about, Pollan says that Berry was actually engaged with nature: “He wasn’t just a spectator. He was a farmer.”
It says a lot that he returned to Kentucky so soon after graduating college and has been practicing what he's been preaching for over 50 years.
And although Berry doesn’t own a computer, a friend once persuaded him to sit down and try one.
“I put a question to it,” he recalls. “I would like to know how to make a slaughterhouse that would take care of every kind of product, from fish to beef, could slaughter it, dress it, prepare it for market, and compost the offal.”
It didn’t work, he concluded: “The computer didn’t know.”
Yes! Thanks Jessica! Great find. I feel a bit shamed that I don’t know more about Wendell Berry, and now I have some homework to do. Everything about this guy seems right up my alley. And the anecdote you quote is hilarious.
Initially, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read/comment on this one because I didn’t want to bump Ann Patchett’s amazing essay from the #1 spot. So it felt like a good omen when Ann Patchett appeared in here too:
Berry and I finally settled in the living room of his cozy home on a sunny summer morning. The built-in shelves that surrounded us were stacked with books, from dictionaries to history books to Ann Patchett novels.
Ann Patchett novels on shelf = down to earth vibes.
Excellent article!
It says a lot that he returned to Kentucky so soon after graduating college and has been practicing what he's been preaching for over 50 years.
That got a chuckle out of me.
Yes! Thanks Jessica! Great find. I feel a bit shamed that I don’t know more about Wendell Berry, and now I have some homework to do. Everything about this guy seems right up my alley. And the anecdote you quote is hilarious.
Initially, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read/comment on this one because I didn’t want to bump Ann Patchett’s amazing essay from the #1 spot. So it felt like a good omen when Ann Patchett appeared in here too:
Ann Patchett novels on shelf = down to earth vibes.
Great Read!