Driftwood Valley - The Northern Frontier

This book was given to me by the wife of my Zen teacher, Anne Aitken, when I was living and working with Robert Aitken Roshi in Honolulu. In the heat and sweat of hard work in Hawaii, I particularly enjoyed finding the cool north of my home.
Published in 1946, One reviewer said, "Driftwood Valley is easily the best book written on an outdoor theme by a woman. Why it remains buried in obscurity is a wonder. Theodora Stanwell-Fletcher stands in company with Thoreau. In her depictions of winter life in particular she approaches the master. One is reminded constantly of "The Pond in Winter", "Brute Neighbors", and "Winter Animals". There is some of the grandeur of Thoreau's contemporary, Francis Parkman, in her prose, too, when she lifts her eye to sweep the horizons of the immense British Columbian landscape." Don't know why he qualified this as "written by a woman", but nevertheless there it is.

Ultimately, this is a big, confident, heroic book. She sees Heaven's glory shine, and revels in it.

Check out the price on the book jacket!