The Story of My Boyhood and Youth
by John Muir
'The Story of My Boyhood and Youth' Summary
The elder Muir was a religious fundamentalist. What his father taught, John Muir writes, was "grim self denial, in season and out of season, to mortify the flesh, keep our bodies in subjection to Bible laws, and mercilessly punish ourselves for every fault, imagined or committed." Muir's father believed that the Bible was "the only book human beings could possibly require," while John secretly read every volume of poetry and literature he could get his hands on. With no formal schooling after leaving Scotland, John also learned from nature--keenly observing details of the seasons, the life of the farm oxen, and wild animals and birds. John also became an amateur inventor, eking out time from farm chores by getting up at 1 a.m. to whittle intricate wooden clocks by candlelight in the unheated farm house basement.
Muir finally made a break for freedom--his decision was to go to Madison, Wisconsin, and enter his clocks in the State Fair, with the hope that somebody might see them and offer him a job in a machine shop! All the baggage he carried the day he left home was a package made up of "two clocks and a small thermometer made of a piece of old washboard, all three tied together with no covering or case of any sort, the whole looking like one very complicated machine." His father's goodbye was to admonish John about the "wicked world" and to warn him sternly that if he should find himself in need of money, none would be forthcoming. John would have to depend on himself.
How John Muir made his way from that Wisconsin farm to become the great American naturalist, spokesman for Yosemite and the California redwoods, is the stuff of legend: which makes Muir's autobiographical account of his early boyhood a fascinating read.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1913Author
John Muir
Scotland, United States
John Muir also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologis...
More on John MuirDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
Galileo by Walter W. Bryant
Step into the world of one of history's greatest scientific minds and witness the revolutionary discoveries that shook the foundations of the universe...
Why We Love Lincoln by James Creelman
Brought to us by notable reporter and writer, James Creelman, this story of Abraham Lincoln is a more personal and simple portrait of the most popular...
Hurlbut's Life of Christ For Young and Old by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
Hurlbut's Life of Christ For Young and Old is a detailed, chronological presentation of the life of Christ, relying heavily on quoted portions of Scri...
The Relations of Saint Teresa of Avila by St. Teresa of Avila
Teresa of Ávila also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Spanish noblewoman who was called to convent life in the Catholic Church. A Carmelite nun, pr...
Sir Christopher Wren: Scientist, Scholar and Architect by Lawrence Weaver
Step into the captivating world of one of history's most brilliant minds with "Sir Christopher Wren: Scientist, Scholar and Architect" by Lawrence Wea...
The Youth of Washington: Told in the Form of an Autobiography by Silas Weir Mitchell
It details the life of George Washington as a young man, from his childhood to his military career. Written by Silas Weir Mitchell, a noted American p...
Sir Dominick Ferrand by Henry James
"Levity" is not a word often applied to Henry James, but this story has about it an attractively lighthearted quality. It tells of Peter Baron, a poor...
Historic Girlhoods, Volume 1 by Rupert S. Holland
Biographical sketches of ten girls who became famous before becoming women - some not even making it to womanhood. From Joan of Arc to Catherine d'Med...
My Father As I Recall Him by Mamie Dickens
"If, in these pages, written in remembrance of my father, I should tell you, my dear friends, nothing new of him, I can, at least, promise you that wh...
Captains of Industry by James Parton
In this volume are presented examples of men who shed lustre upon ordinary pursuits, either by the superior manner in which they exercised them or by...
Reviews for The Story of My Boyhood and Youth
No reviews posted or approved, yet...