Views from the Back Forty

James P. Jackson

Oct 2007 · AuthorHouse

About this ebook

"Views From the Back forty" is the author's first person story aboutrural life on what had once been the back forty acreage of a family farm. When the author and his wife purchased the land, partly for benefit of two growing sons, it gave the impression of being worn-out acreage. But after 30 years of living there and experiencing its inherent values, the authorfoundit to be much more: a trove of geology and natural history, a repository of human history, and one family's revelationsabout the enduring qualities of being home on America's rural landscape.

After a short introduction, this booktakes the reader through23 chapters that comprise 15% personal memoir, 15% regional history, plus 70% natural historyand ecology that extend well beyond the back forty's geographical location in east-central Missouri.

About the author

James P. Jackson has enjoyed a wide range of experiences. Born in Paris, France, of American parents, he was reared in Missouri, served two years in Uncle Sam’s Navy, and earned two degrees from the University of Missouri. An avid naturalist, he has worked in various fields of resource conservation, taught high school biology and led students on summer excursions into western wilderness areas. As a freelance writer/photographer he is credited with numerous photo illustrated features in national magazines and has authored three books: The Biography of a Tree; Pulse of the Forest; and Passages of a Stream-- Chronicles of the Meramec. Jackson and his wife, Charlene, have two sons, Keith and Glenn. The back forty has served as the family’s home base since 1979.