Author Shares Walks In Woods

“South of Seattle: Notes on Life in the Northwest Woods” By James LeMonds (Mountain Press, $10)

A lot of writers have wandered the woods and mountains of the Northwest, ruminating on big trees, clearcuts and neverending vistas.

Some of the efforts end up just self-indulgent introspection. But from the forest of voices, some emerge with insight and new perspective.

The essays of James LeMonds fall into this second (and much smaller) group. LeMonds is a teacher by day in Longview, Wash. Otherwise, he lives in and walks through the forests of southwest Washington, where he grew up and, save for a few years away at college, has lived his entire life.

Many books written about Northwest forests end up with a shrill environmental tone. LeMonds shares a reverence for big trees and quiet places, but a temperance bleeds through his writing. This moderation alone sets his book apart from others of the genre. And it allows the reader to enjoy the cadences and rhythms of LeMonds’ writing without feeling the harsh edge of an agenda.

He writes in a pleasant style that says this about the author: He loves walking in the woods, here is his story told simply and straightforwardly. , DataTimes