Usually I stocked new books on the shelves at Sam Weller's Bookstore, but on this particular day I was behind the counter, up front, at the cash register. A friend of mine walked into the store with a very handsome man, blond and suntanned, with unruly hair. We said hello, and the couple disappeared into the stacks.

When the two returned, the blond wild man was carrying a dozen books. I was impressed, for among his tack were some of my favorites: Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey, Black Elk Speaks, Edward Curtis's Portraits from North American Indian Life, Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, Encounters with the Archdruid by John McPhee, and Wilderness and the American Mind by Roderick Nash. He also had Peterson's Field Guide to Western Birds. I tried to be inconspicuous as I entered the rice of each book in the register, listening carefully to their conversation.

"My dream in life is to one day own all the Peterson field guides," the man said passionately.

My friend looked at him and said, "That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard."

Without thinking, I interrupted. "I already have them -- "

Our eyes met. "Brooke Williams," he said.

-- Terry Tempest Williams, on how she met her husband, When Women Were Birds

Literature was life, and reading became an open door to a world beyond the familiar.

-- Terry Tempest Williams, When Women Were Birds

I whispered in Matilda's ear when no one was looking, "A pencil is a wand and a weapon. Be careful. Protect yourself. It can be glorious."

-- Terry Tempest Williams, When Women Were Birds

To write requires an ego, a belief that what you say matters. Writing also requires an aching curiosity leading you to discover, uncover, what is gnawing at your bones.

-- Terry Tempest Williams, When Women Were Birds

And storytelling has a life of its own. The ego dissolves. And when the ego dissolves, people can listen. Story allows us to enter through the back door. We don't even know what we're saying in a story. I really believe that. It just helps us think and begin to talk to others.

-- Terry Tempest Williams, in an interview published in What's Nature Worth?: Narrative Expressions of Environmental Values

[I]t's just that in my world when I hear the word "values" it stops contemplation...If you ask other questions, "What do you love? What do you care about? What questions shatter your sleep at night? What stories do you tell?" then the conversation opens again.

-- Terry Tempest Williams, in an interview published in What's Nature Worth?: Narrative Expressions of Environmental Values