What Happens When the Trees Die?

Susan Freinkel wrote an amazing book on the “death” of the American chestnut tree. Since chestnuts populate the Eastern seaboard, Susan’s book didn’t get a lot of press in San Francisco. That’s a shame since the book is written like a thriller, with teams of scientists and iconoclastic chestnut lovers looking for a cure for the blight that has killed millions of trees. They are in a race against time as the tree, which once flourished from Georgia to Maine, is now almost extinct.

Well, West Coast tree lovers, environmentalists, and narrative nonfiction lovers can hear Susan on June 11 at the Green Ink series at Fort Mason. She will be talking at 6:30 at Building C, room 165. Her book is called America Chestnut: The Life, Death and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree.

The Green Ink series is pretty interesting, too. It is organized by the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library Bay Bookstore. The series has brought in some remarkable authors, including Wendy Johnson, the gardener extraordinaire from Green Gulch.

The series describes itself as: “From recycled books to innovative ideas, Green Ink is a reading and discussion series highlighting the principles of green living, conservation and sustainable living with an emphasis on sharing solutions for everyday life.”

I also want to point out the BookTour.com, the fabulous on-line/email notification of author readings, has a redesigned website. It now has an interactive map. You can browse by author, by category, or by area.