Michelle Benjamin 
A Passion for This Earth 
Writers, Scientists, and Activists Explore Our Relationship with Nature and the Environment

David Suzuki’s lifelong work as an environmentalist, naturalist, and scientist have influenced countless others in their fight to save the planet, 20 such devotees of them have contributed to this inspiring collection. These journalists, scientists, writers and environmentalists have taken their enthusiasm for Suzuki’s philosophy and funneled it into their own personal recollections, manifestos, and essays: Rick Bass describes his love for the Yaak Valley in Montana; Richard Mabey takes readers to a moonlit May evening in Suffolk; David Helvarg tells us of a stirring seaside memory from his childhood. No matter what journey these writers take us on, the unifying theme of their work is always the same: a deep and abiding love of nature — inspired and shared by David Suzuki.

Table of Content

Falling in Love with the Wild

Rick Bass, ‘The Question’

Sharon Butala, ‘Old Man on His Back’

Adrian Forsyth, ‘Web Round a Tree’

Wayne Grady, ‘Erewhon Re-revisited’

David Helvarg, ‘Saved by the Sea’

Richard Mabey, ‘The Real Stuff’



Rise up and Reclaim

Helen Caldicott, ‘My Credo’

Paul Hawken, ‘The Ecologist’

Sherilyn Mac Gregor, ‘Three Ships’

Michael Shermer, ‘Confessions of a Former Environmental Skeptic’

Alan Weisman, ‘Building Backwards’



Uncompromising Dedication

Ross Gelbspan, ‘Toward a Kyoto Protocol’

Heike K. Lotze and Boris Worm, ‘Why We Should Care about the Ocean’

Doug Moss, ‘Save the Environment-Take Back the Media’

Jim Peacock and Shelley Peers, ‘Making A Difference’

Carl Safina, ‘Let Every Tongue Speak and Each Heart Feel’

Ronald Wright, ‘Fools’ Paradise’



Travels with David Suzuki

Thomas Berger, ‘The Geography of Hope’

John Lucchesi, ‘David and Me’

Robyn Williams, ‘The Wonder of the Natural World’

About the author

Michelle Benjamin has worked in books and publishing for more than twenty years, as a bookseller, publisher and now freelance publishing consultant. She was owner and publisher of Polestar Press for almost twenty years, and was publisher at Raincoast Books for six years. She has served on the boards of the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia and the Association of Canadian Publishers, and is currently the director of the SFU Book Publishing Immersion Workshop. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.