A Bill and Dave Classic: The Top 10 Sexiest Nature Writers in History
categories: Cocktail Hour / Getting Outside
15 comments
(Note: Bill and I felt it was only right to exclude ourselves from this competition. )
IN REVERSE ORDER…….
NUMBER 10: JOHN MUIR
(Here’s the link to where this photo orginally appeared.)
NUMBER 9: RACHEL CARSON
The “come hither” look that sold a million books (and helped outlaw DDT).
NUMBER 8: HENRY “BIG DADDY” THOREAU
Just because he never had sex doesn’t mean he wasn’t sexy.
NUMBER 7: WILLIAM LEAST HEAT MOON
Those who know, call him “Most Heat” Moon.
NUMBER 6: VIRGIL
The original beefcake.
NUMBER 5: ALDO LEOPOLD
Everyone knows about his land ethic, but few have heard of his secret “sex ethic.”
NUMBER 4: ED ABBEY
Number 1 on our list of horniest nature writers.
NUMBER 3: TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS
Saving the West, and lookin’ good doing it.
NUMBER 2: GARY SYNDER
“Hey, Baby, want to come back to my Tepee?”
AND NUMBER 1, WHO ELSE BUT ANNIE DILLARD?
Thanks, Dave!
I appreciate the self discipline (humility?) not to include yourself on the list. As I scrolled from 10 to 1, I was thinking, “How much would he have to drink before writing to put himself at number one?”
Sigh – the hot girls get all the Thoreau types!
I’m having deja vu all over again!
Thoreau’s mommy did his laundry. Not sexy.
Bah! That’s the oldest Thoreau saw around! (See R. Solnit’s essay in this month’s Orion!)
His sister, too. They brought him his din-din, also.
Bill and Dave,
Did you guys know that Annie knows and is proud of her award? I just read her bragging of it, near the bottom of her Wikipedia entry. Maybe they took it from her web site, gotta check there. But, wow.
I heard about this but was too embarrassed to actually go check it out…..but I think I will now. Thanks.
I took the bait, went to the source of the Muir photo, and to show just how far I’ll follow a lead, near the end of this absurd article (Muir would have bought a Navigator, not a Lamborghini), I gleened this great quote: “Environmentalists have championed Muir’s work for being revolutionarily farsighted and ensuring a stable future, while failing to do anything similar themselves.” Could apply to anyone, not just E-guerillas.
This is very funny. Thanks for the laugh. Hey maybe someday I’ll make that list?! Nah, probably not.
Emily Dickinson always did it for me.
And what about Peter Matthiessen?
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9104
Good point. Peter M. in his prime sexily stalking snow leopards…..and then there’s Bruce Chatwin, as my wife pointed out.
Hey Dave, did you know that she was my ex-husband’s replacement?.. for a while anyways.
Yes….I think I had some vague awareness of that fact.
Well, after getting over the initial sting of not seeing my name on your list, I have to say I really like what you’ve done here. Too many people overlook the allure of people like Virgil and Muir. I have Teenbeat centerfolds of both of them in my locker, complete with added lipstick kisses. Thanks, lads.