Reading Casts Its Shadow
]ohn P. O’Grady was born in New Jersey and born again in the mountains of the American West. In college he studied forestry, believing that this was a chance to dwell in deep groves and sequestered places, but when he realized resource management is not an appropriate practice for one who delights less in the chainsaw than in the standing oak, he moved on to other fields. For a number of years he served as a professor of literature and environmental studies. He has lived in Maine, California, Idaho, and Montana. Now he’s in the Catskill Mountains of New York, where he does some writing, takes pictures, and chops firewood. He is author of Pilgrims to the Wild (1993), Grave Goods: Essays of a Peculiar Nature (2001), and Certain Trees: In the Catskill Mountains (2017). Along with his good pals Lorraine Anderson and Scott Slovic, he co-edited Literature and the Environment: A Reader on Nature and Culture (2013). He can often be found down at Pandora’s Tavern, where he is a regular at Dour Hour.