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Eyes on Napa - September 20, 2022
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Patricia Damery, Our Editor,
Publishes Her Latest Book
And we think you're going to love it
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Dear Friends of Napa Vision 2050,
Occasionally we like to share happy news about our board members that we think you will find as interesting as we do. Our long time board member and co-editor of Eyes on Napa, Patricia Damery, has just published her latest book. With Fruits of Eden: Field Notes Napa Valley 1991-2021, Patricia takes us on a thirty-year journey in this valley of demons, dreams and delights, vividly recounting her citizen activism to protect the world-famous Napa Valley from the ravages of over-development, water plundering, government failures, greed and damaging tourism.
Damery’s articulate and Illustrative voice is a powerful call that interweaves the story of her ranch with her history, reflections, marriage and her husband’s onset of dementia. His Alzheimer’s began at the same time as pressure on the ranch’s sustainability became acute.
Conversely, there is also great hope. She shares her experiences in the founding of Napa Vision 2050, as well as stories about her relationships with valley activitsts, her children, her grandchildren and friends, all of whom share a deep love for this extraordinary place on the planet.
Over the decades, Damery and her husband, Donald Harms, found that climate change coupled with egregious overdevelopment overcame their land, threatening to destroy their way of life. Destruction of native oaks caused erosion and groundwater depletion, insecticide use disrupted the balance of animal life, including beneficial insects, population density and tourism brought air pollution and congestion, and repeated fires - all risks that continue today.
Patricia will be doing a joint Napa Bookmine Zoom event with another talented local author, Louise Dunlap on Thursday, September 29 that you might enjoy. Both of our their engaging books have been released this month and share common ground. Louise Dunlap’s new book is called Inherited Silence: Listening to the Land, Healing the Colonizer Mind.
Their books overlap in their love of the earth and its communities. Both books are a prayer, of sorts, for a return to sanity, for us to consider the impact of our actions on others, and the integrity of the whole environment. Both authors advocate for a change of consciousness if we are to survive the crisis of climate disruption.
All of us at Napa Vision 2050 appreciate your continued support of our efforts and people, like Patricia Damery, who work tirelessly to defend this beautiful valley.
Please join us at Napa Bookmine via Zoom on September 29, at 7 pm. Please note that this event is free, and your RSVP and registration are needed in advance. Both books are available locally at Napa Bookmine.
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Advance Praise for Fruits of Eden
"Real history is both personal and political. In this book, letters to the local paper jostle next to tales of birthing goats; face-offs with a corrupt Board of Supervisors share space with tender tracing of a devastating diagnosis. The reader is treated to a front row view of the determination of some winegrowers to use water and land for profit, and an illuminating salute to those hardy souls who plant their feet in opposition.”
—Lauren Coodley, Author, Lost Napa Valley (Arcadia, 2021)
“This is so refreshingly far from the usual Napa Valley memoir as to constitute a new genre. Instead of self-celebration so common, it’s at once a full autobiography, a paean to the natural world, and a vivid lesson in the challenges and rewards of working the land oneself. In the course of unwrapping her personal history, the author lays out her considerable involvement in the efforts of environmentalists in Napa to slow down the ravages of development of the one of the most famous and threatened valleys on Earth.”
—James Conaway, author of Napa at Last Light
“As a long-time friend to Patricia, I have always been amazed by her open heart, her open eyes, her intense willingness to put to word to what so many can barely conceptualize or articulate. She gives wings to our wounded hearts and feelings of helplessness in the face of the mass destruction of our home planet. Patricia inspires us towards collective action in accepting the sacred responsibility to reach to our highest potential as care givers of Mother Earth.”
—Charlie Toledo, Executive Director, Suscol Intertribal Council
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