LYDIA WYLIE-KELLERMANN HAS a large cemetery in her backyard. There lie “weeds and tulips and a few homemade tombstones ... beloved fish, brutally attacked chickens, stray cats, and two beloved rabbits.” In this cemetery, her two preteen sons, Isaac and Cedar, and wife Erinn Fahey host a lot of funerals. Why? Living during climate collapse means we must face death with dignity.
Approaching mortality with gentleness is just one of many lessons woven throughout This Sweet Earth: Walking with Our Children in the Age of Climate Collapse. Reading the book feels like listening to stories shared by a friend over a glass of sweet tea.
This Sweet Earth is filled with narratives from Wylie-Kellermann’s life as an activist, parent, and watershed-dweller. Every chapter is benedicted by corresponding prayers and blessings, which affirm that Wylie-Kellermann was brought up on a diet of poetry and anti-nuclear pamphlets. Former editor of Geez magazine and daughter of protest prophet Bill Wylie-Kellermann and organizer and writer Jeanie Wylie-Kellermann, Lydia chooses words with precision, power, and a bit of whimsy.
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