Taking inspiration from art, sculpture, Chicago prairies and folk architecture, Pearson lays out his design philosophy and working process, giving readers direct insight into his collaborative approach of working with nature, instead of imposing preconceptions upon it.

“Delve into this beautiful book. You’ll come away sharing his passion for the beauty that gardens bring into our lives.” —Sigourney Weaver, environmentalist, actor, trustee of New York Botanical Garden How does an individual garden relate to the larger landscape? How does it connect to the natural and cultural environment? Does it evoke a sense of place? In Spirit of Place, Bill Noble—a lifelong gardener, and the former director of preservation for the Garden Conservancy—helps gardeners answer these questions by sharing how they influenced the creation of his garden in Vermont. Throughout, Noble reveals that a garden is never created in a vacuum but is rather the outcome of an individual’s personal vision combined with historical and cultural forces. Sumptuously illustrated, this thoughtful look at the process of garden-making shares insights gleaned over a long career that will inspire you to create a garden rich in context, personal vision, and spirit.

On SPIRIT GARDEN: "In Spirit Garden, poet-scholar-playwright Joe Martin sings ecstatically of the One, the hidden integrity of opposites & the living mystery of existence. He not only fuses Sufi, Buddhist & Jewish paths in a troubadour's transcendence both timeless & time-bound, his thirty poems share the page with Enrique Castanon's haunting figures which shift foreground and background to meta-illustrate the gestalt of Martin's vision." Kirpal Gordon, author, Giant Steps Press blog On FOREIGNERS: "[An] absurdist mind grenade... Joe Martin's first novel paints this neo-European shadow landscape with panache a gifted American writer." Richard Peabody, Editor, Gargoyle On RUMI'S MATHNAVI: A Stage Adaptation "Absolutely remarkable and memorable lifting the veils one after another." Lida Saeedian, co-translator of The Pocket Rumi On PARABOLA: SHORTER FICTIONS "...through the tightly structured geometry of this metaphorically rich [work is a] recognition of the search we undertake to fi x a place for ourselves and try to make sense of a confusing, alienating and often combative world." Cheryl Pallant, High Performance

A mystical and spiritual portrait of African American folk gardens in the South

Jerome Irons meets a strange old man along a desolate Highway. The stranger tells him an unbelievable tale of a secret that lies beyond the Desert Dunes. The knowledge soon makes him an enemy of the state and a fugitive on the run. He must cross the forbidding Desert Dunes the escape the hangman's noose. Along the way, he discovers an ancient struggle between good and evil.