Diana Muir

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling.
You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (May 2008)
This article or section is written like a personal reflection or essay and may require cleanup.
Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (May 2008)

Diana Muir, also known as Diana Muir Appelbaum, is a Newton, Massachusetts writer and historian. Muir was born and raised in the small town of Old Lyme, Conn. She attended Barnard College in New York City.[1]

Muir, an environmental historian, is a critic of American choice of "profitability over sustainability."[2]

According to the Boston Globe "She's an economist. Then, again, maybe she's really an ecologist. Although some book critics and readers consider her a New England historian. Actually, Newton author Diana Muir is probably all of the above." "Although her book was well received by economic historians who like to look at how industries rise and fall, Muir doesn't call herself a lay economist. "I'm an historian," she said. "And it seems to me that any intelligent person has to enjoy nature and care about the environment, and so those interests all came together." So, she's a shameless environmentalist, too.'[3]

According to the Daily News Tribune, "Muir's book Reflections in Bullough's Pond reads more like a novel than a history book. In the book, Muir shows the historical relationship between New England's economy and the environment. She expands the relationship into a national and global analysis of America's, and the world's, current environmental and political problems: global warming, ozone depletion, and Middle East oil dependence, to name a few. Muir claims America's oil dependent economy has hit a dead end.

Muir argues that Americans can, and must, make economic changes to alleviate their environmental and political problems."[4] Brian Donahue calls Muir's interpretation "Malthusian."[5] David Warsh wrote in the Boston Globe that Muir's is a "wider-ranging economic and ecological history of New England... rooted in her acute observation."[6]

When "Giants in the Land" was named one of the Yankee Magazine 100 Classic New England Children's Books, Muir told a reporter that "Kids that age are voracious and want to be read to a lot, and there are many wonderful picture books, but this [list] might make it a little easier for people. Librarians know all those books, but aunts and grandparents going to buy a book for a child don't always know where to go after [they've bought] `Make Way for Ducklings.'"[7]

Her work on holidays is widely cited. Amitai Etzioni has called "Thanksgiving" and the "Glorious Fourth" key works in the social history of holidays.[8]

Muir has appeared on The History Channel, the BBC, National Public Radio, Voice of America and other news programs.[9]

Contents

[edit] Books

Reflections in Bullough's Pond; Economy and Ecosystem in New England

Thanksgiving; an American Holiday

The Glorious Fourth; An American Holiday

[edit] Books for Children

Cocoa Ice

Giants in the Land

[edit] Prizes and Awards

For Reflections in Bullough's Pond (University of New England Press, 2000)

  • Massachusetts Book Award, 2001

For Cocoa Ice (Orchard Books 1997)

  • Lupine Award, Maine Library Association, Honor Book, 1997

For Giants in the Land (Houghton Mifflin 1993)

  • Booklist Magazine, Top of the List, best juvenile nonfiction book for Youth
  • Jefferson Cup - Virginia Library Association 1994 Honor Book
  • Starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews
  • School Library Journal Best Book
  • The Bulletin (Blue Ribbon winner)
  • Yankee Magazine, 40 Classic New England Children’s Books
  • An ALA Notable Book

[edit] Articles

Genetics and the Jewish Identity, with Paul S. Appelbaum, Jerusalem Post, Feb. 11, 2008[10]

The Gene Wars, with Paul S. Appelbaum, Azure, Winter 5767 / 2007, No. 27[11]

[edit] Sources

http://www.DianaMuir.com

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jesse Floyd, The story of the author and of the book. The Newton Tab, July 1, 2000
  2. ^ Jesse Floyd, The story of the author and of the book. The Newton Tab, July 1, 2000
  3. ^ 'Reflections' wins the Massachusetts Book Award for the best non-fiction book published in 2000. by Kenneth Rapoza, The Boston Globe, December 9, 2001
  4. ^ Ben Hartman, "Why is New England's landscape different from the rest of the United States?" December 14, 2001 edition of the Daily News Tribune.
  5. ^ Donahue, Brian, The Great Meadow: Farmers and the Land in Colonial Concord, 2004, p. 264
  6. ^ Warsh, David, "Reclaiming the Commons" The Boston Globe, August 20, 2000
  7. ^ " 'giants' Makes Children's book List," by Erica Noonan, Boston Globe, December 3, 2000
  8. ^ "Flirting and Flag-waving, the revealing story of holidays and rituals." Amitai Etzioni, Chronicle of Higher Education (December 11, 2002)
  9. ^ SUNY Cortland - News - New England Author to Discuss Ecologically Sustainable Economy on March 18
  10. ^ Genetics and the Jewish Identity
  11. ^ The Gene Wars