The chestnut is teetering on the brink of extinction. At least, that’s what the American Chestnut Foundation fears. In an effort to save chestnuts from nonexistence, the foundation has released Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology, a book the foundations says offers an inspiring story of an American symbol.
The book offers up a saga of a unique and exceptional tree that supported a way of life, that fed and sheltered our ancestors, and “touched almost every phase of our existence.”
From Indians and early explorers, to colonists, naturalists, loggers, industrialists, and beyond, from presidents, poets, and artists, including Jefferson, Lincoln, Carter, Thoreau, Frost, Homer, Andrew Wyeth, and many more, the story of our once mighty, towering native chestnut tree is a lesson for our times.
The book tells, in images and words, the story of the once mighty monarch of the eastern forests and the scientists who engaged in the struggle against “one of the greatest natural disasters in the history of forest biology” — perhaps the deadliest plant blight ever encountered. It is the story of the dedicated few who refused to give up: the fearless plant explorer who tracked down the blight in war-torn China, the plant pathologists and geneticists who labored long and valiantly to understand the blight and find a way to thwart it. It is also a story of hope, of small but vital triumphs, as the secrets of the American chestnut and its deadly nemesis are gradually revealed.
Notable contributors to the book include former President Jimmy Carter, author Barbara Kingsolver, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug and Bill McKibben, author of “The End of Nature.”
I have to admit, the first time I ever tried a chestnut was just about a year ago. Though I delighted in the classic treat, I haven’t encountered one since. I hope we’ll still be able to sing “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” ten years from now and still have the option of eating one. A paperback version of the book is available on Amazon.com.
The American Chestnut Foundation also offers the 296-page full color book in hardback.