The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue

“Tidwell stands alongside many other trumpet-playing angels of the apocalypse – Rachel Carson, James Hansen, Jane Goodall, Bill McKibben and Elizabeth Kolbert, to name a few – in the ongoing fight to save our planet. It’s the kind of feel-good read we need right now.” – The Washington Post

“Powerful … Tidwell is an excellent reporter whose hyperlocal focus shines light on how the climate crisis shapes the lives of ordinary individuals. This will stick with readers long after they finish the last page.”– Publishers Weekly, starred review

“As a longtime climate leader, Tidwell has been on the frontlines of protecting our world for decades. An insightful, poignant read.” – LitHub“Tidwell connects his very local story to the global consequences of climate change and covers potential technologies, such as geoengineering and tree burials, that might become part of a solution.” – Library Journal

“An astonishing and urgently necessary book. One of our leading national and global activists, Mike Tidwell in this book makes the climate catastrophe utterly local and personal, analyzing what global warming has meant on his block and in his home. It’s all here: the devastating loss of neighborhood trees, the rising costs of flooding and erosion, the brutal summers and Tidwell’s personal battle with Lyme disease and the terrifying spread of other debilitating tick-borne diseases. A remarkable book that will change the way you think about climate change and remind you that, just as all the problems are fundamentally in your backyard, so are all the solutions.” - U.S. Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-8), author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Unthinkable.

“Beautiful. Not only is Mike Tidwell a very fine writer, there’s almost no one I know who’s earned more of a right to set forward their ideas about how we climb out of the climate mess. For decades he has fought the fossil fuel industry, and done it creatively, effectively, and tirelessly. I’m awfully glad he’s taken the time now to reflect.” - Bill McKibben, author The End of Nature

“Mike Tidwell tells the story of how climate change is unfolding in his literal backyard, following the changes he can see in a single neighborhood. He reminds us that the fight for our planet begins at home, revealing how the fate of our planet–and our neighbors–are inextricably linked. As a longtime climate leader, Tidwell has been on the frontlines of protecting our world for decades. An insightful, poignant read.” Leah Stokes, author, Short Circuiting Policy

“Few American writers render the climate crisis so vividly–not in statistics and headlines, but in the daily elegies sung quietly in the backs of our heads. This is a book about community, human and non-, holding together as the places we live in come apart.” - Daniel Sherrell, author Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World

“Record rainfall and drought are bad news, but losing the giant oaks in your hometown to climate whiplash can turn angst into a worthy creative endeavor, as it has done for Mike Tidwell. The strength of the story is Tidwell’s use of local resources, from his neighborhood to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, to explore the big issues. Are there reasons for climate optimism, and if so, what are they and do they have a chance? Saving trees and saving humanity, it turns out, have much in common.” - John N. Maclean, author of Home Waters and Fire on the Mountain

“The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue leaves readers with a cautious optimism, an empowering sense of hope and a greater appreciation for our trees.” - BookPage (starred review)

Mike Tidwell is a writer and climate change activist. His previous six books include Bayou Farewell (2003) about the disappearing wetlands and Cajun culture in south Louisiana. As a contributing travel writer for The Washington Post, Tidwell has won four Lowell Thomas Awards, the highest prize in American travel journalism. In 2002 he founded the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and still serves as executive director, where he has led local, state, and national campaigns for clean energy. He lives on Willow Avenue in Takoma Park, Maryland with his wife Beth and their cat Macy Gray.