Monday, August 20, 2018

Tired of bad news about youth and our world? This book is for you!


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.

You can find a link to Gail’s blog at her website, www.GailGrenierSweet.com.
Besides Young Voices from Wild Milwaukee, she is the author of Dog Woman, Don’t Worry Baby, Dessert First, and Calling All Horses, all available on Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=gail+grenier








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