One Square Inch of Silence One Man's Quest to Preserve Quiet

by Hempton, Gordon; Grossmann, John

• ISBN13: 9781416559108
• ISBN10: 1416559108
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-03-02
• Publisher: Atria Books

Summary

In the visionary tradition of Rachel Carson'sSilent Spring,One Square Inch of Silencealerts us to beauty that we take for granted and sounds an urgent environmental alarm. Natural silence is our nation's fastest-disappearing resource, warns Emmy-winning acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton, who has made it his mission to record and preserve it in all its variety -- before these soul-soothing terrestrial soundscapes vanish completely in the ever-rising din of man-made noise. Recalling the great works on nature written by John Muir, John McPhee, and Peter Matthiessen, this beautifully written narrative, co-authored with John Grossmann, is also a quintessentially American story -- a road trip across the continent from west to east in a 1964 VW bus. But no one has crossed America like this. Armed with his recording equipment and a decibel-measuring sound-level meter, Hempton bends an inquisitive and loving ear to the varied natural voices of the American landscape -- bugling elk, trilling thrushes, and drumming, endangered prairie chickens. He is an equally patient and perceptive listener when talking with people he meets on his journey about the importance of quiet in their lives. By the time he reaches his destination, Washington, D.C., where he meets with federal officials to press his case for natural silence preservation, Hempton has produced a historic and unforgettable sonic EKG of America.Imbued with the boundless curiosity of original explorers like Lewis & Clark, the incisiveness of Jack Kerouac's observations on the road, and the stirring wisdom of Robert Pirsig repairing an aging vehicle and his life,One Square Inch of Silenceprovides a moving call to action. More than simply a book,One Square Inch of Silenceis an actual place, located in one of America's last vestigial naturally quiet places in Olympic National Park in Washington State. Hempton shares some of his favorite recordings of the park's endangered pristine soundscapes on the enclosed CD. This CD also includes wide-ranging recordings and stunning photographs from his pioneering journey, an inspiring quest for quiet that now adds natural silence to the nation's ecological agenda.

Author Biography

Gordon Hempton is an acoustic ecologist and Emmy Award-winning sound recordist. For nearly twenty-five years he has provided professional audio services to musicians, galleries, museums, and media producers. His sound portraits have been featured in People magazine; in a national PBS television documentary, "Vanishing Dawn Chorus," which earned him an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Individual Achievement"; and in his new audio series, "Environmental Sound Portraits." He lives in Port Angeles, Washington. John Grossmann is a freelance writer of magazine articles and books. He lives in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey.

Table of Contents

Prologue Sounds of Silence	p. 1
Silent Thunder	p. 5
The Quiet Path	p. 12
Hitting the Road	p. 41
Urban Wilderness	p. 56
Endangered Quiet Beauty	p. 86
The Earth Exposed	p. 121
The Rocky Road to Quietude	p. 157
Nature's Symphony in Decline	p. 180
Interlude	p. 203
Toxic Noise	p. 207
Seeking Muir's Music	p. 244
Hundred-Mile Walk to Washington	p. 252
Washington, D.C.	p. 274
Epilogue Echoes	p. 316
Correspondence with James Fallows	p. 323
Indianapolis Noise Profiles	p. 328
Kempthorne Letter	p. 329
FAA Map of the Continental United States	p. 332
Sonic EKG of America	p. 334
Your Personal Quest for Quiet: A Mini-User's Manual	p. 336
Acknowledgments	p. 343
Index	p. 345
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.