JOHN MUIR was born in 1838 in Scotland, and immigrated with his family in 1849 to the United States. In 1892, he and his colleague Robert Underwood Johnson founded the Sierra Club, of which Muir was president until his death; he was also influential in establishing four national parks. Controversial during and after his lifetime, his writings on wilderness preservation became the impetus for the modern environmentalist movement. Muir died in 1914 in California.
TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS is the best-selling author of fifteen books, including the environmental classic Refuge and most recently, The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks. She has received numerous awards and honors for her commitment to peace and ecological consciousness. She lives in Utah and Wyoming.