Woodswoman II: Beyond Black Bear Lake

by Anne Labastille

Overview

"If you’re looking for a real declaration of independence, and a deeper social experiment, try a woman living alone in the Adirondacks for decades." —Megan Mayhew Bergman, Guardian

Anne LaBastille found peace and solitude in the log cabin she built for herself at Black Bear Lake. But as the years passed, the outside world intruded in various ways: curious fans, after reading her best-selling book Woodswoman, tracked her down; land developers arrived; there was air and noise pollution and the damages of acid rain.

Woodswoman II is the story of the author's decision to retreat farther, a half-mile behind her main cabin, and build a tiny cabin—fashioned after the one in Thoreau's Walden—in which she could write and contemplate. In this book (originally published under the title Beyond Black Bear Lake) she writes movingly of her life with two German shepherds as companions, of a sustaining relationship with a man as independent as herself, and her renewed bond with nature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393320596
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	05/17/2000
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	656,619
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Anne LaBastille (1933—2011) was a wildlife ecologist, photographer, and the author of more than a dozen books, including the four book Woodswoman series.

Table of Contents

	From Author to Reader	15
1.	West of the Wind Is Discovered	23
2.	Further Interruptions	34
3.	Pitzi	47
4.	Condor	56
5.	The Ponds	70
6.	Death from the Sky	84
7.	The Decision to Retreat	100
8.	Big Brother Is Watching	110
9.	Half a Haven	117
10.	My Nuclear Winter	131
11.	Thoreau II	143
12.	Two Guides	154
13.	Chekika	169
14.	A Copycat Walden	185
15.	Sauntering Around Lilypad Lake	200
16.	Neighbors	213
17.	A Wild Winter at West of the Wind	220
18.	One Woman's Wilderness	232
19.	Night Thoughts	242

Editorial Reviews

"Anne LaBastille has done it again! What a splendid account of her move deeper into the woods of the Adirondacks—and deeper into her independent life as a consultant and conservationist…A book of the inspirational sort, such as we rarely see."

Norman Myers

Woodswoman II is the continuing biography of author Anne LaBastille, who found peace and solitude in the log cabin she built for herself at Black Bear Lake, in the Adirondack Park of upstate New York. This is the engaging, compelling, sometimes inspiring story of how Anne decided to retreat a half-mile father into the wilderness behind her main cabin and build a second, tiny cabin (fashioned after the one in Thoreau's "Walden") in which she could write and contemplate. Woodswoman II focuses on her renewed bond with nature, her companionship with two German shepherd dogs; and her sustained and sustaining relationship with a man fully as independent as herself. Highly recommended reading for anyone who has ever contemplating leaving the stress of urban life behind for the contemplative isolation of the wilderness.
—Internet Book Watch

Internet Book Watch