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The Prophet of Dry Hill: Lessons From a Life in Nature
David Gessner had always known of John Hay. A nature writing legend, Hay was a hero to the younger writer. But it wasn't until Gessner returned to his childhood home on Cape Cod that he befriended the older man. At first, Gessner thought he might write Hay's biography. But that idea gradually changed as the two talked and walked through the fifty acres surrounding Hay's house on Dry Hill. The book that resulted is a dramatic record of what the younger man learned from his elder.
The Prophet of Dry Hill is the compelling story of two men and the year they spent together. But more than a book about friendship, it's a lyrical primer on the importance of living a life connected to the wild. John Hay has lived deeply on one piece of land for sixty years. As a consequence, he has much to tell Gessner-and us-about the importance of creating a strong relationship with the land we live on. His words speak to our forgotten need for space and for reaching beyond ourselves to the world outside. Seeing is the great discipline that nature teaches, Hay proclaims. Nature, not psychology, is the path to our true selves.
In our split-second world, a life like John Hay's-rooted, connected to nature-provides a radical counterpoint to our technology-filled indoor existences. Gessner learned much from this man on the hill. We too will be challenged and changed.
The Prophet of Dry Hill is the compelling story of two men and the year they spent together. But more than a book about friendship, it's a lyrical primer on the importance of living a life connected to the wild. John Hay has lived deeply on one piece of land for sixty years. As a consequence, he has much to tell Gessner-and us-about the importance of creating a strong relationship with the land we live on. His words speak to our forgotten need for space and for reaching beyond ourselves to the world outside. Seeing is the great discipline that nature teaches, Hay proclaims. Nature, not psychology, is the path to our true selves.
In our split-second world, a life like John Hay's-rooted, connected to nature-provides a radical counterpoint to our technology-filled indoor existences. Gessner learned much from this man on the hill. We too will be challenged and changed.
- GenresNatureNonfiction
192 pages, Hardcover
First published September 7, 2005
1 person is currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
David Gessner
39 books121 followersDavid Gessner is the author of fourteen books that blend a love of nature, humor, memoir, and environmentalism, including the New York Times bestselling, All the Wild That Remains, Return of the Osprey, Sick of Nature and Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness.
Gessner is the Thomas S. Kenan III Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the literary magazine, Ecotone. His own magazine publications include pieces in the New York Times Magazine, Outside, Sierra, Audubon, Orion, and many other magazines, and his prizes include a Pushcart Prize and the John Burroughs Award for Best Nature Essay for his essay “Learning to Surf.” He has also won the Association for Study of Literature and the Environment’s award for best book of creative writing, and the Reed Award for Best Book on the Southern Environment. In 2017 he hosted the National Geographic Explorer show, "The Call of the Wild."
He is married to the novelist Nina de Gramont, whose latest book is The Christie Affair.
“A master essayist.” –Booklist
“For nature-writing enthusiasts, Gessner needs no introduction. His books and essays have in many ways redefined what it means to write about the natural world, coaxing the genre from a staid, sometimes wonky practice to one that is lively and often raucous.”—Washington Post.
“David Gessner has been a font of creativity ever since the 1980s, when he published provocative political cartoons in that famous campus magazine, the Harvard Crimson. These days he’s a naturalist, a professor and a master of the art of telling humorous and thought-provoking narratives about unusual people in out-of-the way-places."
--The San Francisco Chronicle
Gessner is the Thomas S. Kenan III Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the literary magazine, Ecotone. His own magazine publications include pieces in the New York Times Magazine, Outside, Sierra, Audubon, Orion, and many other magazines, and his prizes include a Pushcart Prize and the John Burroughs Award for Best Nature Essay for his essay “Learning to Surf.” He has also won the Association for Study of Literature and the Environment’s award for best book of creative writing, and the Reed Award for Best Book on the Southern Environment. In 2017 he hosted the National Geographic Explorer show, "The Call of the Wild."
He is married to the novelist Nina de Gramont, whose latest book is The Christie Affair.
“A master essayist.” –Booklist
“For nature-writing enthusiasts, Gessner needs no introduction. His books and essays have in many ways redefined what it means to write about the natural world, coaxing the genre from a staid, sometimes wonky practice to one that is lively and often raucous.”—Washington Post.
“David Gessner has been a font of creativity ever since the 1980s, when he published provocative political cartoons in that famous campus magazine, the Harvard Crimson. These days he’s a naturalist, a professor and a master of the art of telling humorous and thought-provoking narratives about unusual people in out-of-the way-places."
--The San Francisco Chronicle
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 26, 2019
"David Gessner had always known of John Hay. A nature-writing legend, author of fifteen books, Hay was something of a hero to the younger Gessner. But it wasn't until he returned to his childhood home on Cape Cod that Gessner befriended the older man. At first, Gessner thought he might write a biography of the man many consider to be our greatest living nature writer. But that idea quickly changed as the two talked and walked through the fifty acres of woods surrounding Hay's house on Dry Hill. Hay became more friend than subject and Gessner's book became a dramatic record of what the young man learned from his elders."
~~front flap
For whatever reason, this book just didn't resonate with me.
~~front flap
For whatever reason, this book just didn't resonate with me.
December 5, 2021
Cape Cod is one of my favorite go to places. David Gessner’s writing about exploring Cape Cod with John Hay has given me insight into what is being lost over time because too many people, now only rich people, also choose it as their go to place. At least memoir nature writers like David Gessner have given us written descriptions to remember what once was.
October 3, 2023
A lovely little book with many gentle observations on nature, environment and aging.
I suspect the people and places involved may all be somewhat better known in the USA but not sure that really matters.
I enjoyed this a lot.
I suspect the people and places involved may all be somewhat better known in the USA but not sure that really matters.
I enjoyed this a lot.
October 18, 2021
Two buddies who find each other and try to figure out themselves and the world that surrounds them, supports them, amazes them, and is in need of our care.
March 2, 2022
In places this was a bit dry but I learned a lot about the naturalist John Hay with whom I was not familiar before reading the book.
December 9, 2025
A good example of a memoir with a delightful and wise premise that could have been way more distilled.
July 15, 2020
One of my favorite non-fiction books.
September 25, 2011
Good God, John Hay. Where have you been all my life?
Maybe he's a bit cranky, and sure the book sometimes got repetitive, but the "prophet" really spoke to me through his companion and student David Gessner. I think I copied most of the book in my notebook.
And, now I am hard pressed to choose ONE of the things he said I loved. Okay, here you are:
"What is it that we're missing? I think we have an essential wildness in us that is too often stifled. That wildness builds up in us and becomes dark because we ignore it--when we go into nature, we are looking for a release, a dialogue.... We are searching for a match for that wildness inside us in the wild land. " Here, he gestures toward P-town (he lived on the Cape). "And in the wild sea, of course."
I finished it tonight after watching the EXTRAORDINARY AND NOT TO BE MISSED!!! documentary, "Buck." Perfect timing.
Maybe he's a bit cranky, and sure the book sometimes got repetitive, but the "prophet" really spoke to me through his companion and student David Gessner. I think I copied most of the book in my notebook.
And, now I am hard pressed to choose ONE of the things he said I loved. Okay, here you are:
"What is it that we're missing? I think we have an essential wildness in us that is too often stifled. That wildness builds up in us and becomes dark because we ignore it--when we go into nature, we are looking for a release, a dialogue.... We are searching for a match for that wildness inside us in the wild land. " Here, he gestures toward P-town (he lived on the Cape). "And in the wild sea, of course."
I finished it tonight after watching the EXTRAORDINARY AND NOT TO BE MISSED!!! documentary, "Buck." Perfect timing.
May 28, 2013
john hay was a true hero. this is not a biography of him (that has yet to be written). this is one young(ish) writer's kind of hanging out with the 90 or so year old naturalist. i really enjoyed this book. both the author and the subject are worth reading. a fine meditation on nature and growing old.
highly recommended.
highly recommended.
May 28, 2011
My kind of book.
Want to read
August 7, 2011Massachusetts
March 2, 2012
A reflection on friendship, nature, and place that left me troubled and reflective, even as it lifted up and offered a view I've long shared.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews