Martin Murie was a writer I got to know for one simple reason; I lived in Yellow Springs. He would pass through town on a regular basis as he traveled from his home base in upstate New York to Wyoming to visit his mother. Murie had family living here in the area. He had previously taught biology at Antioch College. I would see him around town. I found out he was a writer at about the time he discovered I talk to writers on the radio. You can guess what happened next.
We did some radio shows together. I loved talking to him. He was a contemporary of my own father; they were born a few years apart, and both men experienced the horrors of WWII. My father became an insurance executive; he was a lifelong Democrat. Dad admired Adlai Stevenson and
John F. Kennedy. Martin was a bit more outspoken in his views. He was an environmentalist who was not reluctant to get out on the front lines and speak out. He was an anti-war activist, an essayist, a husband, a father, and they lived a simple life, he and Alison (Alison Estabrook Gass Murie), out there in the wilds, chopping their own wood, hauling water from the spring, writing. I admired them.
Martin Murie died in 2012, He was 85 years old. Alison Murie died the following year.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Tipp City Public.
