Shelton Johnson: The Best Idea America Ever Had
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2013
- Critically acclaimed author Shelton Johnson plumbs geography, history, and his own experience as a national park ranger. His 2009 historical novel Gloryland traces the journey of a young black Indian from South Carolina in the Reconstructed South across the Great Plains to Yosemite. The novel, the result of 16 years of research, recounts the history of the Buffalo Soldiers and the once little-known story of their service as some of the first national park rangers. Johnson's writing and advocacy for their story ultimately led to his appearance in the Ken Burns PBS series The National Parks: America's Best Idea. Johnson's talk weaves his own journey from Detroit to Yosemite together with an insider's look at the challenges and rewards of serving as a park ranger. Don't miss his perspective on misperceptions about the relevance of our national parks for people of color.
Shelton Johnson has a BA in English literature and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan. He works as a National Park Ranger at Yosemite National Park and is also a member of Yosemite's Horse Patrol. Johnson's first novel, Gloryland, was published by the Sierra Club in 2009. This book grew out of his ongoing research into the history of the Buffalo Soldiers in the Sierra Nevada. He worked with Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan on their documentary film, The National Parks: America's Best Idea.
Sheldon’s passion while speaking of our National Parks System and Yosemite is awe inspiring. I have been to several Parks but only once to the Four Corners, white water rafting ( class 5 rapids ) and that trip was the trip of my lifetime! I felt the presence of the Lord Almighty himself; as if his face shone down upon everything within my sight and what a sight it was to behold! ☺️
This man in the last week has changed my life. And I am never looking back.
How are the any empty seats?!? Shelton Johnson is a genius and so inspiring! He is one of my personal heroes!
Love this fine man, he draws you into his love & enthusiasm for National Parks!! He makes me want to learn more...thank you Sheldon!!
What a beautiful gentle, humble spirit. What he has learned from his experience is a treasure to us all, thanks for sharing it.
Loved the lecture unfortunately not a lot people actually understand the hidden meaning of freedom our national parks are what show us freedom
love it
Epic. Favourited.
Would love to see his reenactment of the Buffalo Soldiers in Yosemite. Shelton Johnson is truly a passionate person for our National parks and democracy. I wish I was at this lecture.
Wonderful lecture and there are way too many empty seats....
Don't worry about skin tone, my friend. You, me, our neighbors will no longer see skin variations in the years coming.
Sad that this man is so under-educated.
It's a shame that he doesn't realize that FREEDOM is America's best idea, not the national parks.
David Govett A quote direct from his mouth, "Wilderness is an expression of freedom." Did you watch the whole speech?
Quite literally, wilderness is as close to pure freedom as you can get. Have you ever walked through pure wilderness? Have you ever experienced the wonder of hearing wolves and admiring the night sky? It is a shame that more people haven't experienced these things. When I was growing up (not that long ago, in fact I still am XD) I was in awe with the woods in my back yard. I was lucky enough that my parents bought a little three bedroom house in a city that has some trees in a stretch behind my childhood home. THAT was my wilderness, my freedom. A place with little to no human interaction where I could be me and observe. What a blessing it is to just sit on a log and watch wild things. Birds, ants, bees, trees, life in its freest and purest form. Yeah... That is freedom... and freedom is found where the roads stop.