front cover of Coming Home to the Pleistocene
Coming Home to the Pleistocene
Paul Shepard; Edited by Florence R. Shepard
Island Press, 1998

"When we grasp fully that the best expressions of our humanity were not invented by civilization but by cultures that preceded it, that the natural world is not only a set of constraints but of contexts within which we can more fully realize our dreams, we will be on the way to a long overdue reconciliation between opposites which are of our own making." --from Coming Home to the Pleistocene



Paul Shepard was one of the most profound and original thinkers of our time. Seminal works like The Tender Carnivore and the Sacred Game, Thinking Animals, and Nature and Madness introduced readers to new and provocative ideas about humanity and its relationship to the natural world. Throughout his long and distinguished career, Paul Shepard returned repeatedly to his guiding theme, the central tenet of his thought: that our essential human nature is a product of our genetic heritage, formed through thousands of years of evolution during the Pleistocene epoch, and that the current subversion of that Pleistocene heritage lies at the heart of today's ecological and social ills.


Coming Home to the Pleistocene provides the fullest explanation of that theme. Completed just before his death in the summer of 1996, it represents the culmination of Paul Shepard's life work and constitutes the clearest, most accessible expression of his ideas. Coming Home to the Pleistocene pulls together the threads of his vision, considers new research and thinking that expands his own ideas, and integrates material within a new matrix of scientific thought that both enriches his original insights and allows them to be considered in a broader context of current intellectual controversies. In addition, the book explicitly addresses the fundamental question raised by Paul Shepard's work: What can we do to recreate a life more in tune with our genetic roots? In this book, Paul Shepard presents concrete suggestions for fostering the kinds of ecological settings and cultural practices that are optimal for human health and well-being.


Coming Home to the Pleistocene is a valuable book for those familiar with the life and work of Paul Shepard, as well as for new readers seeking an accessible introduction to and overview of his thought.

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Encounters with Nature
Essays By Paul Shepard
Paul Shepard; Edited by Florence R. Shepard; Introduction by David Petersen
Island Press, 2000
While most scholars work within the safe, sturdy confines of conventional academics, Paul Shepard moved beyond convention, out under the open sky where he was free to turn and peer in every direction. Blending, sifting, and culling massive mounds of scientific, historical, and deductive data -- drawn from biology, ecology, ethology, anthropology, archaeology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and even art -- he searched for shards of truth, then fit those pieces together to give logical and meaningful shape to our world. His interdisciplinary approach brought together diverse fields of research, embodying in a sense Edward O. Wilson's recently proposed idea of "consilience" -- the unity of knowledge needed in the fragmented world of academic specialization.Throughout the vast body of Shepard's literary legacy, certain themes appear repeatedly: the aesthetics and perception of landscape and nature; animals and their pervasive influence on our humanity; ontogeny, the development of the individual in complicity with nature and with culture; and "place" as the grounding of our being. Encounters with Nature brings together twenty-one essays written over a span of four decades that explore those themes and chronicle an interlocking progression of knowledge and insight that certifies Paul Shepard as one of the most brilliant thinkers of our time.The essays were selected and edited by Florence Shepard, who also provides a preface and substantial notes that introduce each section; her contributions offer illuminating biographical information that places the essays within the context of Shepard's life. In addition, the book features an introductory essay by writer David Petersen that discusses the meaning and importance of Shepard's guiding ideas.Encounters with Nature gives the reader a deeper understanding of Paul Shepard's thought, bringing his intellectual development into closer focus and providing a valuable overview of his life and vision. The book will bring a greater appreciation of the prescience and timelessness of Shepard's writings to his many followers and friends, and can also serve to introduce new readers to the remarkable breadth and depth of his work and insight.
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front cover of Saving Wyoming's Hoback
Saving Wyoming's Hoback
The Grassroots Movement that Stopped Natural Gas Development
Florence R. Shepard and Susan L. Marsh
University of Utah Press, 2016

Winner of the Wallace Stegner Prize in Environmental Humanities

In late 2012, more than one hundred people gathered to hear a long-awaited announcement: the Trust for Public Land had succeeded in preventing natural gas development in the remote Hoback Basin of Wyoming. This landmark agreement—purchasing leases from Plains Exploration Company—would not have come to pass without the extraordinary will and expertise of local citizens. Unchallenged, the proposed natural gas development in the national forest near the hamlet of Bondurant, Wyoming, would have brought roads, pipelines, water and air pollution, and a complete change in the character of the landscape and its communities.
     Saving Wyoming's Hoback tells the story of the Hoback and Noble Basins in northwestern Wyoming and of the citizens who worked together to protect the land that they loved. Retired schoolteachers, mine workers, big game hunting outfitters, and other stakeholders brought together their knowledge of the area to achieve a single goal: to prevent the industrialization of the wild country that was their home. While some disagreed about specifics, their work as individuals and as coalitions is an inspiring example of how determined citizens can make a difference. 

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