SAMUELS, Gayle Brandow 1943-

PERSONAL:

Born October 7, 1943, in Philadelphia, PA. Education: University of Pennsylvania, M.L.A., 1998.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Rutgers University Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Ave., Piscataway, NJ 08854-8099.

CAREER:

Author and lecturer. University of Pennsylvania, lecturer in environmental studies.

WRITINGS:

(With Lucienne Beard and Valencia Libby) Women in the City of Brotherly Love—and beyond: Tours and Detours in Delaware Valley Women's History, G. B. Samuels (Philadelphia, PA), 1994.

Enduring Roots: Encounters with Trees, History, and the American Landscape, Rutgers University Press (New Brunswick, NJ), 1999.

Author of the preface to Past and Promise: Lives of New Jersey Women, and various magazine articles.

SIDELIGHTS:

Gayle Brandow Samuels's book Enduring Roots: Encounters with Trees, History, and the American Landscape was described by a critic for Kirkus Reviews as "An affectionate appreciation of trees and their place in the American landscape, expressed through the stories of individual trees." The book arose from Samuels's master's thesis and explores both the history and folklore of specific trees, as well as the sociological impact of the arboreal influence, in order to reflect the collective role trees play in the reconciliation of nature and humanity. Through individual trees and species, Samuels also explores the historical role of managed nature in the United States.

Samuels begins with the "Charter Oak" in Hartford, Connecticut, a white oak whose trunk is hollow. According to legend, in 1687 colonists hid their charter within the hollow of the tree so it would not be found and rescinded by supporters of King James II. This stately oak was a meeting place for several generations of American Indians, and after its death in 1856, 10,000 pieces of it were distributed around the country. Samuels also writes about California's 4,767-year-old bristlecone pine, aptly named "Methuselah," thought to be the oldest living organism on Earth. In writing of John Chapman ("Johnny Appleseed"), who planted thousands of European apple trees throughout Indiana and Ohio, Samuels explores Chapman's relationships to specific species and his role as a symbol of national identity.

Library Journal reviewer Ilse Heidemann commented that Samuels's "stories are appealing [but her] presentation is unfocused." However, a reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote, "Samuels shuttles fluidly between ecology, botany, folklore, poetry, travelogue and sociological research" to produce essays that are "an uplifting meditation on trees and an unusual investigation of the American cultural landscape."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Forests, winter, 2001, Carl Reidel, review of Enduring Roots: Encounters with Trees, History, and the American Landscape, p. 13.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 1999, review of Enduring Roots, p. 1624.

Library Journal, December, 1999, Ilse Heidemann, review of Enduring Roots, p. 179.

Publishers Weekly, November 8, 1999, review of Enduring Roots, p. 59.*