A panel discussion focusing on nature and the environment and how it influences the creativity of writing is scheduled for October 2, at 11 a.m., at Gifford Pinchot’s Grey Towers National Historic Site, Milford, Pike County, as part of the Milford Readers and Writers Festival.

The program is free and open to the public.

Three renowned nature authors will speak about their experiences for the panel-- That Strange Thing Called Nature --

-- Robert Moor, whose newly released book “On Trails: An Exploration” was hailed as “an engaging blend of travelogue, sociology, history and philosophy that might be summed up as a meditation on the centrality of trails to animal and human life” by the The Washington Post, also has written for Harper’s, n+1, New York, and GQ, among other publications. A recipient of the Middlebury Fellowship in Environmental Journalism, he has won multiple awards for his nonfiction writing.

-- John Casey, author of the novel Spartina, which won the National Book Award and has established itself as a modern classic, will reflect upon his new collection of essays “Room for Improvement.” This ‘self-portrait’ of extremes – whether it be sport, exercise or other outdoor challenge – may “entice us to consider getting moving again, preferably outside," according to a review by The Boston Globe.

-- Blair Braverman, wrote “Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North,” as a “rich and revelatory memoir of a young woman reclaiming her courage in the stark landscapes of Norway and Alaska. The Minneapolis Star Tribune states that Braverman is “a lyrical, understated writer” who penned an “unusual memoir [that] will resonate with anyone who has ever chased a dream through a thicket of difficulty.”

The Milford Readers and Writers Festival includes a number of ticketed events in addition to the free events.*

For more information about the Grey Towers program, “That Strange Thing Called Nature,” call 570-296-9630 or send an email to: greytowers@fs.usda.gov.

For more information on programs, initiatives and other upcoming events, visit the Grey Towers Heritage Association.  Click Here to sign up for updates from the Association, Like them on Facebook, Follow them on Twitter, visit their YouTube Channel, become part of their Google+ Circle and follow them on Instagram.

  Also visit the Grey Towers Historic Site website and the Pinchot Institute for Conservation website for information on its conservation research and policy programs.  Click Here to sign up for the Institute’s regular updates.

(Photo: *Authors John Berendt, Gloria Steinem and MK Asante will headline the Milford Readers and Writers Festival.)

9/26/2016