In the Preface of John Muir Climbs a Tree and Other Tree Tales: An Anthology of Tree Stories, author and editor W. Jim Cortese asks three questions.
- Have you ever climbed a tree?
- Have you ever fallen out of a tree?
- Have you ever been around or seen something in or about a tree that you wish someone knowledgeable was nearby that could explain to you what you were witnessing?
I answered yes to all three questions. Did you?
Mr. Cortese is a retired arborist and urban forester, and he wants us to consider trees as friends. They connect us. In fact, my neighbor and I texted about the tree in her front yard yesterday. The leaves are beginning to turn here in East Tennessee, and I look forward to the red leaves on her tree every year. By the end of next week, the tree will be ablaze, and I will snap yet another photo of it.
In the anthology, Mr. Cortese shares 32 short stories and essays about trees, including three of his own. Retired Knoxville News Sentinel writer, Sam Venable, authors two of the essays. Readers will find this to be a collection about more than trees. The writers trace trees’ histories, the folklore surrounding them and the people shaped by them.
I was almost afraid to read Ghosts of Bartonville Asylum by Troy Taylor. Watching One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as a child left quite an impression! However, this is the story I expect to remember the most from the anthology. Reminder: do not visit the Peoria State Hospital Historic District.
Would a collection about trees be complete without Johnny Appleseed? An article written by W.D. Haley for Harper’s New Monthly Magazine from 1871 is included and is thought to be the most complete story about John Chapman aka Johnny Appleseed ever written.
Recently, Mr. Cortese was awarded the 2026 Distinguished Achievement Award for Human Issues in Horticulture from the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) for his editing and contributions to John Muir Climbs a Tree and Other Tree Tales: An Anthology of Tree Stories. Congratulations to Mr. Cortese on this award and many thanks for the anthology that made me think about my own tree memories.
I encourage each of you to read Mr. Cortese’s anthology. Share your own story about a tree you have loved with him (https://www.wjimcortese.com/). In the meantime and before the leaves fall, take a drive to marvel in the beauty of our area while listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Autumn.
What I am reading: Midnight Mooring by Samantha Young
What audiobook I am listening to: East of Eden by John Steinbeck
What podcast I am listening to: From the Front Porch
What I am watching: Miss Scarlet (PBS)
Visit the library, an independent bookstore or search the Knox County Online Library for more books.
Linda Sullivan is an avid reader and wants to make you one, too. For more recommendations or just to talk books, reach out to her at thebookwhisperertn@gmail.com. She can also be found @thebookwhisperertn on Instagram.
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