In The Twilight Forest, Gary Ferguson brings readers on an expansive journey through the ponderosa forests of the Southwest both to mourn--and to celebrate--the forests that nurtured him. In warm and luminous storytelling, Ferguson weaves together the human and natural history of ponderosa, from its march across the West more than 10,000 years ago, to centuries of artists inspired by its dazzling stature and shady passageways. Both wildfire and climate change are constant presences on this journey. Fire is necessary for healthy forests but has turned deadly, while climate change stresses even the hardiest beings of the natural world. Yet the story of ponderosa reminds us that loss can be a gateway to connection--to nature and each other.

While it is tempting to hide from the changes around us, Ferguson offers a healing approach: "to pick even one of these thousand doors of loss, pull it open and walk through." The resulting journey is a life-affirming tribute to one of America's most cherished wild landscapes.