The twentieth-century environmental movement owes much to a single man: David Brower. Countless natural wonders would have been lost if not for his efforts and the tremendous energy put forth by organizations he directed and/or founded (including the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, and the Earth Island Institute). A tireless defender of wild areas, Brower worked to protect iconic places, including the Grand Canyon and the California redwood forests, and his work and passion helped define modern environmentalism.

For the hundredth anniversary of David Brower’s birth, his son Kenneth Brower, an acclaimed nature writer, has brought together the testimonies of nineteen environmental leaders whose lives and careers were transformed by David Brower; the result is a book in which a repertory company of path-forgers reveal their deepest values and most moving experiences. Reading like an adventure novel told by the intrepid folks who rode alongside Brower, The Wildness Within  presents illuminating anecdotes about a multifaceted man who changed the world, serving as a guide to young people and a bane to bureaucrats and others more cautious in their approach to the crises at hand.

Contributors include:

• Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb
• Dave Foreman, founder of Earth First!
• Harold Gilliam, former San Francisco Chronicle environmental columnist
• Paul Hawken, founder of Smith and Hawken, and coauthor of Natural Capitalism
• Randall Hayes, founder of The Rainforest Action Network
• Huey Johnson, pioneer environmentalist and founder of the Trust for Public Land
• Amory Lovins, author of Reinventing Fire
• Nancy Skinner, coauthor of 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth

In partnership with the Earth Island Institute and Brower’s family and friends, Heyday is proud to cosponsor the year-long David Brower Centennial, beginning May 17, 2012. The celebration will include the launch of The Wildness Within along with a major conference symposium, a lecture series featuring legendary environmental figures, and an art exhbit on “the art of advocacy,” which will highlight Brower’s pioneering role in using large-format color photography books as a form of activism.