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Outreach
and Response “…his worthwhile voice forms a useful and needed bridge to the truly natural language we all share and have forgotten how to speak.” —Publishers Weekly “What Hemingway would call a ‘movable feast’… Alan’s astoundingly beautiful nature photography and lyrical prose pulls the reader into a deeply contemplation of the natural world and one’s relationship to it… Few will be able to read it without deep introspection, learning and pleasure.” —U.S. Congressman Les AuCoin (D-OR, retired) “Does
nature offer not only an environment conducive to spiritual awakening,
but a relevant model for living in a world overrun by rampant consumerism
and corporate homogenization? Readers of Wild Grace will conclude the
answer is a definitive ‘yes.’ Comprehensive and cogent, beautiful
and often brutally honest, Wild Grace draws wisdom from both the spectacular
and the mundane. It’s an artful combination of prose and images that
is both contemporary and timeless.” —The Harbinger/Brushwood
Institute “Blends stunning color photography with graceful and profound insights on how to encounter the natural world as a sacred space.” —Powell’s Books, Portland “I just have to tell you how much we enjoyed and appreciated your book… For a weekend trip to the coast, it became the central them of the three most beautiful and peaceful days that I can remember. Wild Grace is a true masterpiece and a total inspiration! You have woven your heartfelt, soulful and spiritual thoughts so eloquently into words, which are even more defined by your creative photographic expressions. Your balance of content and composition is extraordinary. We read a great portion out loud to each other in such magnificent natural settings throughout the weekend, and we were deeply touched and inspired by your creation.” —T.K., Ashland, OR “About the book: wow. There is a lot going on there, and I have several different responses, or layers of response, to it. The images are lovely. What painstaking attention they demonstrate!… In the text I also felt many shared impulses; a great deal of common ground between us…I really appreciated your willingness—insistence, even—on looking into the hard-edged parts of nature, and not just resting on pretty flowers and bright sunny days. Not that those things aren’t full of meaning as well, but they get diminished if not accompanied by a recognition of wolves tearing hunks of flesh out of a live deer, or the earth opening its throat and vomiting up tons of molten lava. You can’t have one without the other, and it was wonderful to find another who seemed to want to hold that complex whole.” —A.M., Missoula, MT “We are all enjoying your beautiful creation.” —D.T., Chico, CA “Your book is a gem.” —M.G.S., Medford, OR “Absolutely stunning!” —S.D., Ashland, OR “The photography is incredible, and the phrases seem to flow perfectly with the images.” —M.D., Ramona, CA “Congratulations… on your beautiful book. I’m reading it slowly every night, and am very inspired by it.” —V.O., Ashland, OR “What’s odd is that nature is my religion. It always has been and seeing your book, WOW! Other people feel the same way I do. It has meant a great deal to me. I’ll be ordering more.” —T.H., San Marcos, TX “The books arrived and they are beautiful! I’m waiting for some quiet time to sit and read… I leafed through the photos and loved them—many imparted an immediate sense of calm (much lacking in my life right now). Thanks for adding such a wonderful piece of art to our world.” —J.S., Ashland, OR “What a beautiful creation!” —H.S., Glendora, CA “Awesome book. I hope you’ll start a church and convert a few million of the brainwashed Christians. My aunt is enjoying it too; she said ‘I’ve never read anything quite like it.’ I’d like to send a couple of more copies to friends.” —L.H., Two Harbors, MN “It’s beautiful. It has a very soft comforting voice and your humor still comes through.” —K.S., Rehoboth Beach, DE “Thank you for your beautiful book… I just read some, then rode my bike down to the river. You reminded me to look at things from many different perspectives and levels. Thank you so much.” —N.G., Richmond, CA “Your photography is a joy to the eye. Your philosophy is beautiful too! Congratulations on a splendid achievement! And the same to your publishers! I hope that the book sells very well for years to come as it makes a terrific gift for virtually any occasion.” —F.F., West Palm Beach, FL “Your book is exceeding any expectations I might have had. I sit down with my tea each morning and read more of it. I find myself reciting mantras from it during my day: ‘I breathe in, the wind is a part of me; I breathe out, I am a part of the wind…’ Thank you so much for your wonderful perspective on life. This book is going to be my staple gift for quite some time.” —L.L., Ashland, OR “It is beautiful, even more so than I expected.” —J.M., Ashland, OR “It appears to be a masterpiece. It’s obvious the hours of love and thought you gave to create it. I’ve been looking for reading material for my honeymoon to Fiji. I think this book will make the journey with me.” —P.P., Ashland, OR “It is beautiful. A healing book for a world very much in need of your message. I hope it finds its way into many hands, and hearts.” —P.T., Ashland, OR “I’m thoroughly enjoying your book. I hadn’t expected it to be so… inspirational. The chapters are short enough that I’ve added it to my morning daily inspirational readings. I may come back for more to send as gifts to some people.” —F.C., Klamath Falls, OR “You have achieved the magnificent. The book is glorious. I’m honored to own a copy and have been wildly graceful about shoving it in everyone’s face who walks in the door.” —K.G., Ashland, OR “It is an awesome accomplishment and a true gift of your soul and genius.” —J.D., Ashland, OR “Wild Grace is beautiful! I looked through it this morning with my partner, who is a graphic designer and photographer. He has designed many books over the years and was very impressed with the layout, photography, color reproduction, font selections, etc. I also read bits and pieces of the text out loud… we really enjoyed your insights. I’m giving a copy to my father for his birthday.” —D.E., Ashland, OR “These are the most beautiful written words I have ever read on spirituality. A gift surely. It is as if my own bells are ringing in your prose.” —B.E., Weaverville, CA “WOW! It is truly terrific. Dynamic thought; excellent cosmic sense.” —J.H., Humboldt, CA “WOW. I love your book site. Especially the ‘Flowing’ excerpt. We share the same reverence for water and wild places. I love the concept of wild grace. It does indeed seem that nature has attained that state… which is why it is so healing to be immersed in it.” —B.H., Ashland, OR “It is so beautiful, so inspiring, so true, that I just had to tell you how much I appreciate your words. I am deeply touched.” —C.E., Mill Valley, CA “Beautiful, lovely, profound. Thank you for extending yourself with such eloquence.” —M.M., Ashland, OR Print: A featured national review in Publishers Weekly. Photographic and verbal excerpts in The Mindfulness Bell, the international magazine of Nobel Peace Prize winner Thich Nhat Hanh’s mindfulness community. Nationally quoted in Natural Health magazine. Other photographic and verbal excerpts from Wild Grace have appeared in Sentient Times (where its photography was featured on the cover for two consecutive issues), The Harbinger, The Jefferson Monthly, and on the Life Challenges website. Extensive features on the book have appeared in The Medford Mail Tribune and Ashland Daily Tidings. The author was also interviewed for an article on alternative building practices by the Detroit, MI lifestyle magazine Clear. Radio,
TV & Video: Eric
Alan recently appeared on sixty public radio stations nationwide via West
Coast Live, alongside other recent guest authors Amy Tan, Tobias Wolff
and Anne Lamott. Alan has also been a featured guest on The Jefferson
Exchange, a talk show on seven stations in southern Oregon and northern
California; and on The Healing Arts, broadcast nationally via satellite
by Wisdom Radio, and regionally by Jefferson Public Radio. On cable television,
he was featured on the regional program Life Passages, and Magic
Moments. He is also a featured participant in a video project sponsored
by California’s non-profit Brushwood Institute, in rebellion to the
“speed and greed” mentality of current American culture; extensive
interviews with him are featured along with Mark Hertzgaard, author of
The Eagle’s Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the
World. Academia: Wild Grace has been chosen as a textbook for the “Environmental Ethics” honors seminar at Southern Oregon University, by nine-time U.S. Congressman Les AuCoin (D-OR, retired), and other university uses are pending. The author has appeared as a featured speaker at Ashland High School, in the American Wilderness Literature program and the Journalism program. Libraries: Wild Grace is the personal pick of the executive director of the Jackson County Library Foundation as “Jackson County Book of the Year,” and the author will be a featured participant at the grand opening of the new Central Library of the Jackson County system in April, 2004; and a speaker as part of a pending series of collaborative events between the library system and a new regional nature center. Bookstores: In the first months after release, has already become one of the top selling nature books ever at southern Oregon’s top independent bookstore, Bloomsbury Books in Ashland. Barnes & Noble staff recommendation in Medford, OR; a strong seller and other regional stores. Highly positive review by Powell’s Books in Portland, OR. Photographic: A one-man photographic show featuring framed enlargements from Wild Grace, as well as text from the book, was recently on exhibit at the Headwaters Gallery in Ashland; a portion of sales proceeds were earmarked to support environmental work in the region. Spiritual:
Material
from Wild Grace has been used in spiritual gatherings from Buddhist
mindfulness groups to a Methodist church, a Jewish synagogue and a Unitarian
fellowship, where Eric Alan was a featured speaker, in Grants Pass, OR. Musical:
Combining
readings and slides from Wild Grace with music and environmental
service, Eric Alan has participated in events with several recording artists.
He has toured with Texas singer/songwriter Patrice Pike through six cities
in two states; done an outdoor concert with the nationally recognized
Celtic folk/rock band Gypsy Soul; and shared stages with award-winning
folk songwriter Michael McNevin and California pop sensations the Megan
Slankard Band. Musical events in the planning stages for 2004 include
an integrated performance in Missoula in April with Montana folk singer
Amy Martin; another integrated Oregon event with an Eastern percussion
and chant duo; use of Wild Grace photos in the concerts of a Grammy-nominated
guitarist, and events with other recognized artists (details pending).
Plans are being formed for a benefit album with a variety of recording
artists, using lyrics adapted by Eric Alan from Wild Grace. The
book was also purchased in quantity by a representative of New West Records
(home of John Hiatt, Delbert McClinton, others) to use as an industry
Christmas gift for the program directors of some of the country’s
top Adult Album Alternative radio stations. Environmental
& Political: The
North Mountain Park Nature Center in Ashland recently featured an evening
with Eric Alan, including a reading and discussion, including an investigation
of nature’s relationship to holiday traditions; events with another
nature center soon to follow. The author will be doing a benefit book
signing at the 3rd Annual Environmental Film Festival in southern Oregon.
Discussions are also underway to use the book in raising awareness and
funds within other environmental preservation efforts, and within the
political arena. Healing: A cancer survivor himself, Eric Alan was a featured speaker at the local Relay for Life sponsored by the American Cancer Society. The lessons of nature in healing were discussed in-depth in his Wisdom Radio appearance on The Healing Arts, and the book was nationally quoted in Natural Health magazine. Mind-body therapy pioneer Ilana Rubenfeld, inventor of the Rubenfeld Synergy Method and author of The Listening Hand, bought Wild Grace in bulk to introduce to alumni of her training. Integrated events are possible for 2004 with Eric Alan and another nationally published author of four yoga books. A photo from the book is featured on the wall at Rogue Valley Medical Center. Word of mouth: Wild Grace has been featured in book groups, women’s groups, and bookstore readings. Individual copies have already traveled to Fiji, France, India, Ecuador, Switzerland and Alaska; many readers have bought multiple copies as gifts. Wild Grace: Nature as a Spiritual Path is available via SCB Distributors from White Cloud Press, PO Box 3400, Ashland, OR 97520; (541)488-6415. More information is also available at www.wildgrace.org and www.whitecloudpress.com. |
