August 28, 1995
Naturalist Williams's collection of essays mixes environmental activism, a passion for the landscape of her native Utah and a special concern with the role of women in the environmental cause.
April 4, 1994
Naturalist-in-residence at the Utah Museum of Natural History and author of Refuge , Williams here explores the connection between nature and women, affirms the healing power of the land and looks at feminism and bear myths. She contrasts the predator-prey relationship of the Great Basin with that of the Serengeti Plain of Africa and recalls a story about Georgia O'Keeffe and Coyote. Williams voices her shock at seeing the moribund wetlands of Pelham Bay in New York City's Bronx on an expedition to collect intertidal creatures. She describes demonstrations against nuclear testing and stresses her own concerns by reprinting the powerful statement she delivered before a congressional subcommittee hearing on the Pacific Yew Act of 1991. Williams recalls her family, in particular her grandmother and two uncles; of other members, she writes: ``Nine women in my family have had mastectomies. Seven are dead.'' Her essays are elegant and compelling.