“I touch trees, as others might stroke the fenders of automobiles or finger silk fabrics or fondle cats,” begins Scott Russell Sanders in one of his most recent essays, “Mind in the Forest,” featured in Orion Magazine.

Scott Russell Sanders will be reading tonight at 8 p.m. in the Tippie Alumni Center as the next featured author of the Single Voice Reading Series. He is the author of over 20 books of fiction and nonfiction.
Often, his works center on understanding the environment in spiritually fulfilling ways, making this Single Voice Reading an occasion, not just for English majors and writers, but for everyone interested in environmental issues.
“The line running from Thoreau to Aldo Leopold, to Wendell Berry leads to Scott Russell Sanders,” said Christopher Bakken, associate professor of English and planner of the Single Voice Reading Series.
Though Sanders is originally from Memphis, Tennessee, students interested in understanding the natural landscape particular to the northeast may gain perspective from hearing Sanders’ read about his communion with nature.
“One of his talents is to bring to life the wonders of a place, like Crawford County,” Bakken said. “He has a working class, rust-belt sensibility.”
“Here’s the model of someone who’s found a way to make writing the center of his life,” Bakken said. “In our country, that isn’t easy.”