Adirondack Inspiration for Environmental Writers

By Casey Ryan Vock
Photo courtesy of Random House, Inc.

The Adirondack Mountains are certainly captivating enough to change the life of anyone who spends time here. Bill McKibben has been fascinated with the park ever since he first set foot here nearly twenty years ago. In his newest book, Wandering Home, he pays homage to the Adirondacks; adamant about environmental conservation efforts. Writing very passionately on pertinent issues like global warming, overpopulation, global consumerism, and genetic engineering, McKibben has become one of the most respected environmental writers in the country. Besides his admiration for the Adirondacks, he does whatever he can to prevent further abuse to our planet.

McKibben was born in California on December 8, 1960, but moved shortly thereafter to Canada. His family eventually settled in Lexington, Massachusetts. McKibben’s father was a journalist, which inspired McKibben to write at a young age. McKibben later went on to Harvard University, where he recalls busy days as the Editor of the Harvard Crimson, the college’s six-day-a-week newspaper. McKibben graduated in 1982, and was hired as an editor at The New Yorker where he wrote over 400 articles for the “Talk of the Town” section.

In 1986, he and his wife/fellow writer, Sue Halpern, decided to move from New York City to an isolated house in Johnsburgh in Warren County, near North Creek. There, they realized that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives in the comfort of a natural setting.

“The Adirondacks are the most interesting example of environmental success on the planet,” McKibben says.

Living in the Adirondacks fostered McKibben’s further concerns about major
environmental threats. He says he’ll always remember the inhabitants of the Adirondacks for the way they work so diligently to preserve the environment. His new book introduces characters that have spent the majority of their lives devoted to preserving Adirondack hiking trails and fending off pesky four-wheelers.

“The Adirondacks are the most interesting example of environmental success on the planet,” he says. “First, because this is a second-chance recovered wilderness that shows humans can take a step back. And second, because it is a park that is also people, where you don’t keep humans out with a fence. In that way, it offers real hope for the large swaths of the world that resemble it in one way or another.” McKibben believes that other major forest areas can eventually achieve the same level of environmental consciousness that the people of the Adirondacks have.

In 1989, McKibben published The End of Nature, one of the first books to discuss the global warming problem. Sixteen years and nine books later, it is printed in over 20 different languages, used as an educational resource in university lecture halls, and widely distributed around the globe.

McKibben has since spread the focus of his research to include other controversial areas: dissecting American television in The Age of Information and proposing an end to global consumerism in Hope, Human and Wild. Another of McKibben’s books, titled Hundred Dollar Holiday, presents environmental, economic, and moral reasons for a less extravagant holiday season. His book Enough looks at the possible negative effects of the high-speed rate of technological advancement in science. This, and other works, explore human genetic engineering and nanotechnologies–a science involving components so small that they are measured in nanometers (one billionth of a meter) and are incorporated into computer network technologies, like the internet.

McKibben says climate change is the most important environmental challenge the earth is facing because “it’s coming at us so fast.” He believes we are making some progress in efforts toward environmental conservation, but he says that with other problems, like global warming, a true shift in lifestyle needs to be addressed.

Wandering Home, his most recent work, captures his 16-day hike from atop Mount Abraham, near his home in Ripton, Vermont, to the hills of Johnsburgh in the Adirondacks, where he spent almost twenty years. He conveys the sights and feelings he experiences on the voyage in perfect, humorous detail. McKibben’s rich knowledge of the forests allow him to educate the reader, as he identifies different species of trees and plants that he spots along the way. He also explores heated environmental issues like ATV use on the trails.  

Some think McKibben is rebellious. Some, including Rush Limbaugh, think he is a radical environmentalist. The truth is, McKibben has been trying to open peoples’ eyes to many different environmental problems for years. Numerous articles by McKibben are posted on different web sites. A great deal of his writing is available in digital form for purchase or on magazines’ web sites such as Granta, and Grist, an on-line publication where he serves on the board of directors.

McKibben’s work can often be found in the New York Times, Harpers, Outside, The Atlantic, and many new publications focused on issues related to his research. He has been a fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Study of Values in Public Life. McKibben has received Lyndhurst and Guggenheim fellowships, and he won the Lannan Prize in Nonfiction Writing in 2000. Also that year, he was given a Bicentennial medal from Middlebury College. Holding an Honorary Doctorate from Lebanon Valley College, McKibben is considered to be an expert in the fields of global warming, human genetic engineering, religion, the environment, and the effects of television on culture and knowledge.

In 2002, McKibben, his wife, and daughter, Sophie, moved to Ripton. At the
time their house was built, it was rated the most environmentally-friendly home of its size in Vermont. Both the electricity and the hot water are solar-powered. McKibben further exemplifies his advice to the world by driving a hybrid Honda Civic. He proudly boasts of the 54 miles-per-gallon cars. McKibben, the scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College, currently spends time each day outdoors, enjoying some of his hobbies like cross country skiing, hiking, and paddling. But when he is writing a book, there are “several very intensive months of daily stints at the keyboard,”he says.

He keeps himself very busy with research and writing, but McKibben adds, “We’re still back across the lake a lot.” Years down the road he hopes to be, “in the mountains, above Lake Champlain.”

McKibben is currently working on a new book that deals with local economies. “But I’ve got at least another year to go,” he says.

Check out some of Bill McKibben's Books:

"The End of Nature," 1989

"The Age of Missing Information," 1993

"The Comforting Whirlwind," 1994

"Hope, Human and Wild," 1997

"Hundred Dollar Holiday," 1998

"Maybe One," 1999

"Long Distance," 2000

"Enough," 2003

"Wandering Home," 2005

McKibben's Advice to aspiring writers:

"Write as much as possible. Working for a regional or local newspaper is the best way to achieve this early in your career."