Amy Blackmarr
Author of Going to Ground: Simple Life on a Georgia Pond
About the Author
Amy Blackmarr is a South Georgia native who lived in the Midwest for twenty years. She is best known for her nature essays set in the rustic houses she lived in. Her essays have been broadcast on Georgia Gazette, a weekly features show on the Georgia Public Radio Network, as well as Up to Date, a show more weekly news show on Kansas City's NPR affiliate. She is a Madison Self Fellow with a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas and presently lives in the North Georgia mountains. show less
Works by Amy Blackmarr
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Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
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Reviews
Going to Ground: Simple Life on a Georgia Pond by Amy Blackmarr
Perhaps even better some 10-20 years after my initial read. It's a collection of essays and musings centered on living a simpler life, perfect for this (I hope) brief era of social distancing. My favorite passage: “Solitude is an easy companion. It doesn’t require much from me except the ability to be comfortable alone. Friends need more. They need my attention, my energy, and my time. On the whole, I prefer solitude. Even so, I wouldn’t trade the times I’ve spent at the pond with my friends for twice the solitary hours those times have cost me. For real friends are generous: they leave behind the warmth of their company for my memory to wrap itself around, along with the remarkable gift of having taught me to know my self.” (p. 31)… (more)
I love Amy's books because she draws magic out of the ordinary. Our footsteps trace the same kinds of places. She knows the true essence of quirky old houses and loyal dogs. Amy is real; she shows women everywhere how to relish solitude. I lived alone for ten years; every word Amy says about enjoying one's own company echoes in my own soul.
Amy Blackmarr has written about life in South Georgia and in Kansas. In this book, Amy writes again what she writes best--essays about nature, her surroundings and her personal struggles and triumphs. This time Amy is writing from her Uncle Johnny's cabin in the North Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains. Amy's books are good read alone, reflecting by a cozy fire. Her words wrap a comforting ancestral quilt around one's shoulders.
Amy departs from her usual writing of nature essays and spends some time in Dahlonega, Georgia, talking to the local people and visiting haunted buildings and cemeteries. She and Keith, the psychic, attempt to communicate with the ghosts and learn their real stories. A good read.
Awards
Statistics
- Works
- 4
- Members
- 129
- Popularity
- #156,299
- Rating
- 4.2
- Reviews
- 6
- ISBNs
- 10