Heart Of The Sound

Marybeth Holleman witnessed the unspoiled beauty of Prince William Sound, the immediate aftermath of the oil spill from the Exxon Valdez, and subsequent years of healing. She details the devastation wrought by both the ruptured oil tanker and the swarm of experts and volunteers who came to help. Fifteen years later, the coasts and wildlife of Prince William Sound still show evidence of this oil.

This is an intimate look at a specific wild place in the vastness of Alaska. A gentle voice tells her stories, reflects on her life and beloved environment, and reveals an inner landscape. The pages display photographs taken by the author. The words are her love songs for the wild creatures, the water, and many natural wonders of the sound. Such intimacy brings us into her world and broadens our capacity to see and to care what she is passionate about, perhaps humanizing us in unexpected but important ways.

I hope to visit Alaska some day to see the glaciers and the wildlife, to experience the wonders, serenity, and potency of nature. When I go, I will have more respect for the fragility of such beauty. The Heart of the Sound gave me a more complete and complex story about a well-known disaster-not just how this event affected the author and the Alaskan community back then, but how it affects all of us, all of life still.


Concern Born of Love   May 10, 2004
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

One of the things I most admire about Marybeth Holleman is something she told me in person: "I moved to Alaska because of Prince William Sound." This statement is verified in her writing, which is replete with examples of her love and devotion to the place, even when the environment presents obstacles. Camped on Decision Point, she finds the terrain so water-logged it takes five railroad flares to start a fire and she and her husband are forced to don head nets to escape the swarms of no-see-ums. This is not the kind of experience most of us come away from feeling enraptured, but Holleman's reverence and awe never falter.

Crucial questions are presented in the last third of the book. In the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill Holleman casts a critical eye on restoration money designated for scientific study. "All this counting, tagging, radio-implanting, all these projects, research, buildings--I could not fathom how they would help restore the wild," she writes.

Finally, the book takes on a larger scope, asking that we take a hard look at our adaptability to environmental degradation. Things that bother her should trouble us all: noise pollution, species' extinction, global warming, acid rain. How is it that we have come to accept these phenomena as "natural" by-products of economic growth? Thanks to Holleman and other nature writers these issues will continue to surface in discussions across the nation. And, if we are lucky, those in power will begin to listen.


Restorative Powers   April 28, 2004
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

The Heart of the Sound will find a permanent home on my book shelf--for reference, for enjoyment, for inspiration. I was born and raised in Alaska and have lived here over fifty years. Still I learned about the difference between two genetically distinct groups of Orca whales, about the "soundscape" created in Denali National Park for managing uses, and much more. I worked on the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup for six weeks on the water and beaches far outside of Prince William Sound and through Holleman's clear, passionate voice and keen powers of observation I was able to sharpen my own image of what it was like at "ground zero" of the spill. The chapter titled "restoration", with its hard questions and profound insights into the human relationship to place, I will visit often. Holleman cares, and I trust her. This is a beautiful book.


A Captivating, Courageous Book   April 20, 2004
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Marybeth Holleman is a leading voice in North America for
defending nature within Prince William Sound from the negligence and commercial interests of the oil industry, and the devastating Exxon Valdez oil spill fifteen years ago. The Heart of the Sound is an important, engaging, heart-expanding book that you won't be able to stop reading.