My presentation is on Scott Russell Sanders, a former professor here at IU who has written novels, children's books, and countless essays ranging in topics from fatherhood to conservation to religion and faith. I have spent my project working with the Lilly's collection on Sanders' book Hunting for Hope, in which Sanders depicts how a hiking trip with his son helped him reevaluate his attitude towards life and find a more positive outlook on the world.
On reserve is a small, green notebook that Sanders took notes in during his hiking trip with in son, Jesse, in June of 1995. Sanders numbers his pages. Please look at pages 21-24 and then 29-42 (I know this sounds like a lot, but the pages are tiny and the handwriting is quite neat!) Feel free to transcribe these notes, but I'm more interested in you all simply getting a feel for the relationship that Sanders has with his son. In class I would like to discuss this relationship as well as talk about nature writing in general and how such concise field notes taken on a backpacking trip can inspire and lead to an entire book on subjects like hope, faith, and family.
If you have extra time, feel free to look through the rest of Sanders Box 9. There is a lot of really neat stuff compiled from his trip- brochures, maps, articles, other ideas for essays and novels that sprung from this trip- and they are all a testament to how much nature can inspire.
Happy reading!
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