Booklist

Tom's first book.  In it he tells his story, from meeting his teacher Stalking Wolf as a child to various incidents in his life as an adult.  Tom relates his experiences with quick mud, body control, tracking, the feral dogs of the Pine Barrens, Boy Scouts, lost people, poachers, bears, and an entire year spent in the wilds living with what the Earth offered, plus more.

"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." -- From Chapter 1.

In this book Tom tells more stories of his life as a naturalist, tracker, and survivalist, including more detail about his year in the wilderness by himself.  He also tells of the formation of his school, The Tracker School.

From the Introduction: "There is a world beyond that of our everyday physical, mental, and emotional experiences.  It is a world beyond the five senses, and different than the realm of the imagination.  It is the world of the unseen and eternal, the world of spirit and vision.....Part of what this book is about is breaking down the complications and the inaccurate misconceptions that modern man has of the spiritual world."

From the Introduction: "The spirit of wilderness, born into those who seek the quiet places in the temples of creation, unencumbered by the shackles and comforts of society, is the only reality.  We escape to the wilderness to find truth, enlightenment, and peace....But soon man must come back to society to live his Vision and to share the wisdom of the wilderness.  It is the coming back that begins man's real quest, the quest of living a life of purity amid all that is artificial and polluted...."
"This book is a journey, a journey of flesh and spirit, from the world of the purity of wilderness to that which is impure, distorted, and destructive: the world of modern society.  It is a book about the teachings of Grandfather and about Vision."

Read part of Chapter 13, "Wilderness Mind", on this web site.

From the Introduction:  "Many religions and philosophies today are too cluttered in custom and ceremony, shackled by dogma, and no longer work because of all the spiritual pollution and distortion.....It was Grandfather's quest to strip away these complications and distortions, and to get at the simple workable truth -- the common thread of reality and truth that runs through all philosophies and religions of the world....."
"Grandfather so often told me I should take all things to the temples of Creation to test them out.  If they are real, if they are true for everyone, if they are simple, then they are a universal truth."

This is the story of Tom's teacher and mentor, Stalking Wolf, also know as "Grandfather".  This book brings the teachings of the preceding books together as it lightly touches some of the origins of these teachings.

From the Introduction:  "Grandfather was an anachronism.  He did not belong in the space and time that I knew him.  His wisdom does not fit into modern society but is the call to wilder times and places where all things are real.....His world was that of nature and eternity."

From Chapter 1:  "As I see it, Grandfather had just three missions in life.  His first mission was to try to learn, preserve, and pass down as many of the old skills of survival, tracking, and awareness as possible, and to do so by living with the earth with as little as he could.....His second quest in life was to preserve the ancient spiritual wisdom, not only of his people, but anyone who lived close to the earth....His final quest was to learn all that he could from every philosophy and religion."

This book more or less covers the material taught at the Philosophy class at the Tracker School.

From the Preface:  "This book is basically written in three parts.  The first part tells the story of how Grandfather, Stalking Wolf, arrived at the basic philosophy; the second part deals with how I learned the basic techniques and skills of the spirit; and the final part teaches the reader how to integrate them into his daily life.  After all, what good is a philosophy and the power of the spirit if one cannot use it on a constant daily basis?"

From Chapter 1:  "It became abundantly clear to us right from the onset that Grandfather would teach a skill in two different ways.  For instance, he would show us a particular shelter for the classic survival situation, then after we had mastered that shelter he would go beyond and into the realm of the scout.  He would add, "Now if you want this shelter to become invisible on the landscape and thus to all eyes, then you must build it in this way."  He would then demonstrate to us the way the shelter would be modified to fit the secretive aspect of scout life....."
"To the scout, the wilderness had to be his home.  He had to live in perfect balance and harmony with creation and follow its laws.  From his smokeless fires to his invisible shelters, everything had to blend into the flow of life so that there was no disruption in that flow."

Tom's primer on tracking and nature observation, including macro pressure releases.

From the Introduction:  "Part I of this book discusses some attitudes and habits that will help you strengthen your awareness of nature....Part II of this book is a discussion of the ancient art of animal tracking.....how to recognize and follow a wide variety of animal tracks -- including human -- on almost any kind of terrain."

A primer for wilderness survival without modern tools, this book covers topics from one's attitude in a wilderness survival situation, through the "sacred four" of shelter, water, fire, food, to tools and crafts.

This book continues where the previous one left off.  It outlines techniques for living in a "primitive" lifestyle indefinitely, in harmony with the earth.

From the Introduction:  "Living with the earth in its fullest sense is much more than mere survival.  It is also more than the frenzy and desperation that passes for life in much of the modern world.  Living with the earth is an intimate belonging, like the connectedness of a well-rooted tree."

This book completes the survival picture by covering survival in cities, amongst the works of humans.  Tom applies the "sacred four" of wilderness survival to an urban environment.

From the Introduction:  "The last thing I want to do is dwell unnecessarily on disasters and discomforts.....I have not limited the discussions in this book to emergencies and disasters.  I have put just as much (if not more) emphasis on understanding the city environment, living frugally and thoughtfully, knowing how things work, gaining confidence and control in one's life, and becoming familiar with the machines and systems that are so much a part of it.  This, too, is a logical extension of the survival philosophy.  For survivalists do not feel like victims or cogs in a machine.  They feel at home in their environment, wherever it might be."

Unlike most field guides, this one has a story of some sort about each plant, usually about an experience Tom had with it, or a story from Stalking Wolf ("Grandfather") about the plant.  The first part of the book deals with how to approach nature in an attitude of harmony, to gather the plants with a caretaking attitude.  The second part covers the edible and medicinal uses of 44 different plants.

In the Introduction, Tom shares with us a life-changing story in which he realizes that taking the life of a plant to feed ourselves is not much different than taking the life of an animal for the same purpose.

We usually think of wilderness areas when we think of Nature.  This book by Tom is about finding Nature in our own backyards and similar places.  He covers the suburbs, urban areas, and the country.

As usual, it includes interesting stories as well.  The lives of many animals, birds, and insects are covered.

An indispensable guide to helping children appreciate our Natural world.

From the Introduction:  "As I look at society, schools, and the children of today, I see an extreme need.  Most of what is taught to our children is lopsided, feeding only the logical mind, while doing nothing for children's awareness, creativity, relationship to nature and life, or for cultivating spiritual needs....This book does not instruct about all these areas -- only the closeness to and oneness with the earth."

In this field-guide style book on pressure releases, Tom talks about the lessons he has taught us about tracking and expands upon them.  "Tracking lets us unlock the secrets of each animal we follow, and in turn, to become more aware of our own lace in nature and the world.  It is a journey of discovery that engages the senses, awakens the spirit and enlightens the soul," he says.