Franklin Burroughs grew up in South Carolina and has lived in Maine for more than fifty years. This new collection includes brief essays originally published in Down East magazine's Room With a View column and a selection of previously uncollected essays. Ranging from coastal South Carolina to Northern Quebec, and from his childhood to the present, these essays sit squarely at the intersection of human history, natural history, and biography.

The American river has a rich literary heritage, extending from Twain and Thoreau to the more recent journeys of John Graves and Jonathan Raban. Following in this great tradition, Franklin Burroughs chronicles a canoe voyage through the Carolinas, visiting his ancestral homeland and the people who inhabit the banks of the Waccamaw River. His account of this distinctive and rapidly disintegrating backwater reflects on life on and off the river, topography, and how this landscape echoes in the speech, memories, and circumstances of the people he encounters. Their lives provide a kind of living archaeology, and Burroughs's careful descriptions of their voices and habits open a door into history. As quiet and powerful as a river itself, this is a wise and beautifully written narrative of nature, people, and place by one of America's finest writers.

Rarely are we invited to look behind the curtain and get such a revealing glimpse of real life with all its struggles and pain. Dr. Burroughs shares himself with authenticity and wise reflection. His journey shows us that it is possible to discover love, purpose, friendship and even joy in unexpected places. This is a memoir for anyone interested in learning about overcoming the adversities presented in childhood.

In South Carolina, a croker sack is any big cloth sack. When opened, it sometimes reveals more than expected, as do these deceptively simple narratives about fishing trips, flora and fauna, and memories of the past. Observing a snapping turtle, recounting the old age and death of a hunting dog, or talking with neighbors who shot a moose and hung it in their garage, Franklin Burroughs reflects on how human and natural histories interconnect. His writing is clear and still as a pond, and his distinctive and evocative voice resonates through the details.

There are said to be only four places in the world where two major rivers--with entirely separate watersheds--converge at their mouths to form a common delta. Three are famous, having loomed large in the histories and economies of their regions: the Sacramento, San Joaquin delta in California; Tigris, Euphrates delta in Iraq; and the Ganges, Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh. The fourth is Merrymeeting Bay in Maine. It is unfamiliar to most people, even within its immediate vicinity.

Frank Burroughs has lived and knocked around on Merrymeeting Bay for three decades, gaining a familiarity with its natural and human history--its birds, fish, and mammals, and the local people who know it best. His wonderfully fluid essays explore the ecology, environment, and human activities of this unique part of Maine.