REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Join Amy, a librarian, and AyoLane, a naturalist, for an outdoor book club that focuses on our natural world. We discuss our all-time favorite nature titles, both fiction and non-fiction. The book club meets at parks throughout St. Johns County, practically in your own backyard!

This month we’ll be reading The Tracker: The true story of Tom Brown, Jr. as told to William Jon Watkins at Canopy Shores Park.  “The first track is the end of a string. At the far end, a being is moving; a mystery, dropping a hint about itself every so many feet, telling you more about itself until you can almost see it, even before you come to it. The mystery reveals itself slowly, track by track, giving its genealogy early to coax you in. Further on, it will tell you the intimate details of its life and work, until you know the maker of the track like a lifelong friend.” In this powerful memoir, famous “Pine Barrens” tracker Tom Brown Jr. reveals how he acquired the skill that has saved dozens of lives—including his own. His story begins with the chance meeting between an ancient Apache and a New Jersey boy. It tells of an incredible apprenticeship in the Wild, learning all that is hidden from modern man. And it ends with a harrowing search in which far more than survival is at stake.

Tom Brown, Jr. began to learn hunting and tracking at the age of eight under the tutelage of an Apache elder, medicine man, and scout in Toms River, New Jersey, and is the author of 16 books on nature. He was the technical advisor on The Hunted, a major motion picture starring Tommy Lee Jones and Benecio Del Toro. In 1978, Tom founded the Tracker School in the New Jersey Pine Barrens where he offers more than 25 classes about wilderness survival and environmental protection.

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. If the weather is sunny, please bring your own camp chair for sitting out under the trees. If it’s rainy, we’ll be sitting in the park pavilion. Feel free to bring your own snacks & beverages! Please notify us at least 3 days in advance if you should need a sign language interpreter. If you need a print copy, please contact Amy at 904.827.6942 or aackerman@sjcfl.us.