Tyrone nature writer to speak on Wednesday

[sandstone]

Penn State Altoona's Hawthorn Building, Room 150 at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 1st

Marcia Bonta, naturalist and author of nine books and over 300 magazine articles, will offer a reading from her newly expanded and reissued book, Escape to the Mountain: A Family’s Adventures in the Wilderness.

The book focuses upon Bonta and her husband’s decision to settle in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, in the early 1970s to raise their three young boys. Bonta writes a monthly column, The Naturalist’s Eye for Pennsylvania Game News, a publication of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Born and raised in the South Jersey town of Woodbury, Bonta inherited her father’s love for forests, streams and swamps. Her earliest memories are of a childhood enchantment with nature, which led to her decision to study at Bucknell University. Her college education gave her a broad knowledge of the liberal arts, a B.A. degree, and a husband, whose jobs took the family to Washington, DC, Maine, and, since 1971, back to central Pennsylvania. They raised their three sons on an isolated, mountaintop farm near Tyrone, where, inspired by the works of such authors as Hal Borland, Edwin Way Teale, Joseph Wood Krutch and Rachel Carson, she began a writing career based on her daily explorations of the natural world.

Marcia Bonta’s reading will be held in Penn State Altoona's Hawthorn Building, Room 150 at 7:00 p.m. on October 1st. The event is sponsored by Penn State Altoona’s Environmental Studies Program and is free and open to the public.

[Ice Man]

Penn State Altoona's Hawthorn Building, Room 150 at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 1st

Marcia Bonta, naturalist and author of nine books and over 300 magazine articles, will offer a reading from her newly expanded and reissued book, Escape to the Mountain: A Family’s Adventures in the Wilderness.

Marcia Bonta’s reading will be held in Penn State Altoona's Hawthorn Building, Room 150 at 7:00 p.m. on October 1st. The event is sponsored by Penn State Altoona’s Environmental Studies Program and is free and open to the public.

Thanks, Stan, for letting us know about this. I will be there. Marcia Bonta is one of my favorite writers, and a local champion of nature! BTW, she's strongly opposed to the Sandy Ridge Wind Farm proposal because it will ruin a Blair County Natural Heritage Area.

[My2Cents]

Thanks for ALL info. :thumb:

[Ice Man]

Check out http://marciabonta.wordpress.com/

[Blain]

I attended and enjoyed it. It was interesting to learn a little more about life in Plummer's Hollow.

[My2Cents]

Check out http://marciabonta.wordpress.com/

This site is absolutely fantastic. For someone who is unable to walk thru the forest, this site is the next best thing. Many thank's to the Bonta family. We are so fortunate to have a family such as this right here in our little community. A family totally dedicated, and totally appreciative of all things bright and beautiful and all creatures great and small. My, my, my... what a wonderful world this would be if everyone would take a second to stop and smell the roses, and try to understand and take care of nature.
I haven't been able to go thru this completely yet.. the articles, the photographs, the video's are out of this world. I enjoyed "The Arguement with a Porcupine"... that little fellow was courious and yet, he knew he had nothing to fear. "Sunday, Sweet Sunday" I can somewhat relate to because I hear some of those sounds on the other side of that mountain. "Unexpected Encounters, Dave's Morning Porch Cronical," very, very enjoyable read !! I have never seen a Golden Eagle... I can only hope that some day, before I am gone, I will get the chance to see one.

[watcher]

Very nice site. I had forgotten about the tie-in with this book and the author, but I'm thankful that there are people in this area doing their best to remind us of how vital it is to enjoy and appreciate nature. I wish I could have heard her speak this last week.

:thumb:

[sandstone]

Although most of Marcia Bonta's talk was devoted to her family's 30+ years of living in Plummer's Hollow on Brush Mountain east of Tyrone, she did show several slides showing the devastation caused by industrial windplants on forested ridgetops. Marcia expressed her opposition to this kind of development, especially on Ice Mountain.

Several other people in the audience spoke up on this topic as well, one a landowner who is threatened by the proposed Gamesa windplant near Horseshoe Curve in Logan Township.