Trees hold scientific secrets, they provide livelihoods for people and shade needed for salmon runs. For some, trees inspire artistic creativity.
In The Understory, a five-part series from KNKX Environment reporter Bellamy Pailthorp, local authors share how trees inspired their recent books and essays. All of these conversations happen outside amongst trees, both young and very, very old.
Click "Listen" above for a preview. Tune in on air and online the week of Sept. 1 to hear the series.
Transcript
Note: This transcript is provided for reference only and may contain typos. Please confirm accuracy before quoting.
KNKX Morning Edition host Kirsten Kendrick: Trees inspire all kinds of feelings in people. They're all around us. It turns out local authors have written quite a few recent books about them. Our environment reporter Bellamy Pailthorp noted this trend and headed out into the field to record interviews with some of these authors in locations around the Sound. We're calling this series "The Understory," and it starts on Monday, September 1.
So how did this come about?
KNKX Environment reporter Bellamy Pailthorp: Well, no pun intended, but quite organically. I recorded one interview and then got a pitch for a second. I asked my editor, 'Is this too similar?' And she said, 'Well, maybe we could make a series...' Before I knew it, we had five nonfiction books with local content about forests and trees, and they're quite varied, actually. So we decided, why not? Let's go for it.
Kendrick: So why is it called The Understory?
Pailthorp: Well, technically, an understory is all that grows beneath the canopy of a forest. We liked this name for the series because through these conversations, we touch on why trees matter and how they inspire the authors who have written about them. In this case, the understory is that affection, that admiration and curiosity that these authors have for their subjects, which are the trees all around us.
Kendrick: All right, so what's in the series?
Pailthorp: Well, we start on Monday with a book many journalists have been pretty interested in. Seattle Times writer Lynda Mapes, who just retired, met me in Carkeek Park for discussion of her new book, The Trees are Speaking, which is a broad exploration of forests, how they function, where they're going. Then we get deeper into that topic with Seth Zuckerman. He's the co-author of a book on ecological forestry called A Forest of Your Own. I met him in a community forest on Vashon Island for that one.
Kendrick: All right. So this series, though, is not all about current forests, right?
Pailthorp: Not at all. On Wednesday, we go to St Edwards Park, north of Seattle in Kirkland for a chat with local writer David B. Williams, who tells the story of underwater forests in Lake Washington and around the Sound. Scientists have used these ancient forests to decode the history of earthquakes. That's from an essay Williams wrote called Dead Trees Tell No Lies. Then on Thursday, Montana writer Lauren Oakes met me in Seattle's Duwamish greenbelt for a discussion about urban forests and her book, Treekeepers. It's about the big boom in tree planting activity. She looked into how effective that movement really is.
Kendrick: All right, so what's the final conversation we'll be hearing?
Pailthorp: I met with local artist and writer Molly Hashimoto at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle to talk about her book, Trees of the West, and why she invites anyone she can to investigate their surroundings and explore their own creativity through making art from nature. That was a real treat.
Kendrick: Bellamy, you've been busy, you've been out and about all around the Puget Sound area! I'm wondering what you ended up taking away from all these conversations.
Pailthorp: Well, I guess most of all, I would say that trees tend to evoke a lot of emotions and memories for people, they can be beautiful. They can provide shelter and climbing opportunities. They can be places to hide. Trees can be resilient. They're a climate solution, they're scientifically fascinating, and they can provide livelihood for people. They hold lots of unknown secrets. So I'm guessing that these five pieces of thinking and writing about trees locally are only scratching the surface of all that's out there.
Kendrick: All right, can't wait for this. Bellamy, thank you so much.
