Join award-winning nature writer Ted Levin to hear about his newest book, The Promise of Sunrise: Finding Solace in a Broken World, which chronicles Ted’s daily joys and observations of a hillside in Thetford, Vermont, during the Covid pandemic. To get a taste of this lyrical, hopeful read, follow Ted on Substack.

7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Harris Center. Space is limited, and registration is required. For more information, including questions about accessibility, contact Susie Spikol.

Co-sponsored by the Harris Center for Conservation Education, the Toadstool Bookshop, and the Hancock Town Library.

The Promise of Sunrise by Ted Levin with illustrations by Jeanette Fournier is published by Green Writers Press.

About Ted Levin

A lifelong naturalist and Yankees fan, Ted Levin follows a trail blazed by John Burroughs and John Muir, neither of whom paid baseball much attention. His work has appeared in Audubon, Sierra, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, Newsday, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, and The Daily Telegraph, among many other publications.

He is the author of Backtracking: The Way of a Naturalist (1987), Blood Brook: A Naturalist’s Home Ground (1992), and Liquid Land: A Journey Through the Florida Everglades (2003), among other works of nonfiction. He won the Burroughs Medal in 2004, the highest literary honor awarded to an American nature writer. E. O. Wilson called America’s Snake: The Rise and Fall of the Timber Rattlesnake (2016) “a beautifully written book [that] demonstrates just how good nature literature can be.”

Reviews for The Promise of Sunrise

“. . . His deep experience as a birder, photographer, and writer strengthens his observations, and with 43 years as a resident of the region, he has the wide-angle view of the changing seasons, weather patterns, flora, and fauna over time. He considers, as all modern nature writers should, the dramatic effects of the climate crisis on his local landscape . . . This accessible and informative book would be a great read for the many folks who found a passion for birding, walking, and wildlife tracking during the pandemic, as well as an engaging collection of stories for more seasoned naturalists.” —reviewed by Frances Cannon, Northern Woodlands

“The marriage of a great writer and a great subject is always a joy to behold.” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

“…Naturalist Ted Levin began taking a walk each day at sunrise through the woods and wetlands around his home in [Vermont]. His walks begat a lyrical book that brings to life the world of efts and otters, warblers and wrens, chickadees and coyotes. Engaging natural history lessons—loon semen and mammoth bones make an appearance—weave through the daily entries, and slowly the reader also learns the story of the author’s life. Levin’s writing can be extraordinarily vivid . . . Writing such as this demands to be read as one reads poetry, in small sips, to be fully savored.” —Candace Page, Seven Days

Praise for the Writing of Ted Levin “This beautifully written book demonstrates just how good nature literature can be.” —Edward O. Wilson, Two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize