Today on "Katie's View," I’m honored to be highlighting
a special guest.
Back in 2010, when I was
still fairly new to Writing Class participation, Gail Grenier became my
teacher. Gail was in charge the day I became inspired to write Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of
Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference. She, along with my class at
that time, saw me through that process – the happy, the sad, and the in-between.
Over the years, her help and encouragement have been most valuable to me.
Gail is no longer my teacher,
so it was interesting to learn that her latest book, Young Voices from Wild Milwaukee – the Urban Ecology Center and Me, took
a similar format to my own recent book, From
This Day Forward. Sure, the subject matter is very different; but at the
books’ cores, we both held interviews, and waded through that process
independently.
Gail and I decided to
exchange books, and then interview each other all about the who’s, what’s,
where’s, when’s, why’s and how’s of our current book projects. We also
consented to post each other’s interview on our personal blogs, sharing it with
our readers. It’s always fun to see the similarities and differences of such a process.
I'd like to thank Gail for her interest in From This Day Forward. I’ve
certainly enjoyed learning more about Young
Voices from Wild Milwaukee – the Urban Ecology Center and Me. With that said, here we go!
Katie: Welcome, Gail. Let’s start with you describing
what your new book is all about, and how you got the idea for it.
Gail: The
book is Young Voices from Wild Milwaukee:
The Urban Ecology Center and Me. It’s an oral history based on interviews I
did with 15 young people about how nature and a mentor changed their lives.
The idea came from an
experience I had years ago, when I led a small group of middle school children
in after-school nature outings in Menomonee
Falls, Wisconsin. We
called ourselves the “Nature Nuts” and we each chose a nature name. One was
Hawk, one was Willow
- you get the idea. We did simple things like pick and eat wild grapes that
were growing alongside the woods behind their school. One day we took a walk in
the Tamarack swamp, as winter was breaking into spring. Unfortunately, the path
we forged was more mud than ice and one girl, Rachel, destroyed her brand-new
pair of sneakers, and got in trouble with her mother. We laugh about it now,
but small activities can have long shadows.
Rachel hiked the Appalachian Trail
after she graduated from college. I believe she went into environmental
education.
My young friends in Nature
Nuts were like me - happy doing anything outdoors. I dreamed for years of
writing a book about kids and nature. I considered doing fiction, but I don’t
prefer that. I find real life so amazing, why gild it? Finally, a friend who works
at Milwaukee’s
Urban Ecology Center (UEC) inspired me to interview young people whose lives
were turned around after the UEC became part of their lives.
Katie: What
do you mean “turned around”?
Gail: I
interviewed people ages 15 through 40, and for all of them, nature was a
life-changer. Most of them loved being outside from early childhood, but were
delighted (like my friend Rachel) to learn that nature could be a part of their
adult working lives. Others had more dramatic stories of being “turned around.”
For instance, Shawn was on a
bad path. When you’re a poor kid in the inner city, fun things cost money and
you don’t have any. There’s not much to do, and you can be drawn to others who
do graffiti and other vandalism. The UEC showed Shawn how to have fun for free, and
he became a leader there. Shawn’s cousin Roger said that he, too, would
probably have been more swayed by bad influences had he not found the Center.
A young mom, Katrina, became
so depressed after she was robbed that she closed herself inside. Her sons took
her to the UEC, where she found a community of caring people.
Lee didn’t speak until
butterflies became his “speech therapists.”
Jennifer calls her love of
nature a spiritual experience, and Erick links his love of nature to becoming a
kinder person. Terrance grew closer to his daughters through gardening with
them.
They, and the others I spoke
to, agreed that learning about nature helped them enjoy life more and
appreciate the simple (free) beauty around them. They all have a great sense of
humor and share funny stories about animals and camping, misadventures skiing
and canoeing, you name it.
Katie: The
stories are so moving. How did you translate the interviews into book form?
Gail: I
interviewed most of the people with a tape recorder and notepad, until the tape
recorder broke. Then I just used a notepad, like I did when I was a newspaper
reporter. I transcribed the interviews, omitting my questions, so their words
flowed like stories. Sometimes I rearranged the order of paragraphs, but I
didn’t mess with their words. I let all interviewees read their accounts in
order to make additions or corrections. Some supplied pictures of themselves,
or I took pictures myself. Besides current photos, I tried to get pictures of
each person as a child in nature.
As time went on, their lives
changed (for instance, they went from junior high to high school or from high
school to college). I gave them opportunities to update their stories. The
entire process covered a timespan of four years, during which I took a whole
year off of the project in order to move from Menomonee Falls to Milwaukee. Sometimes I
wondered if the book would ever happen. I’m glad it finally did! It took a lot
of belief on everyone’s part.
Katie: Who
is the book’s target audience?
Gail: It’s
for readers of all ages, say middle school through adult.
Katie: I
noticed that most of the pictures inside are in color, which is such a treat!
Gail: Yes,
that’s something that surprised me. I went with HenschelHAUS Publishing on this
one, and I thought they could afford maybe a few shots in color. But my
publisher went with 100-percent color, unless the original was black and white.
The pictures are fabulous! Beautiful young people and lovely shots of nature.
Katie: Because my readers are from all over the
world, why would someone read the book if they’re not from Milwaukee,
or don’t know about the Urban
Ecology Center?
Gail:
Although the book has a local flavor, it’s for any person who has an interest
in nature. The lessons can be translated to any neighborhood and any city.
Julia, one of the story-tellers in the book, talks about little kids who ask
“Will walking on leaves hurt me?” There is a great ignorance, and even fear of
nature, out there. Kids want to play outside, but sometimes they don’t know how. That’s where a mentor can come in.
We can all – children and adults – be mentors for each other…
…and we’ll be the richer for
it.
