Maryland Lost and Found…Again
Overview
Veteran Washington Post reporter and award-winning writer Eugene L. Meyer directs a tour across the "Free State" that is part love letter, part oral history, part obituary. He explores what makes Maryland special, the people who make it unique, and the places and livelihoods that have vanished over the years. The whole of the American experience is found within or close to the state’s borders and between the covers of this book—megalopolis, Appalachia, the Chesapeake Bay, the Deep South, the industrial North, rich farmland, a major port, the nation’s capital, the primary car and rail routes carrying East Coast interstate traffic. Maryland Lost and Found Again transcends the state to comment on the American landscape.
Read MoreChesapeake Country: 25th Anniversary Second Edition, with New Introduction
Overview
The Chesapeake Bay is the nation’s largest estuary, stretching 185 miles from the Susquehanna River to the Virginia capes, touching more than 8,000 miles of shoreline. This country of mists and tranquil waters harbors a rare abundance of wildlife, as well as the last commercial sailing fleet in the United States—the famous skipjacks, or oyster-dredging boats. The bay and its rivers are home to isolated villages that preserve early colonial dialects; to historic plantations, such as Mount Vernon; and to considerable cities, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Richmond.
Beautifully photographed and written, Chesapeake Country tells the story of the bay in all its aspects: its waterscape and wildlife; its delicate ecology; its rich history as the seedbed of American liberty as well as American slavery; and its uncertain present, as the population of watermen who live by crabbing and oystering dwindles, and that of prosperous newcomers seeking a respite from city life grows. This new edition also discusses the future of the bay in the era of climate change and brings us up to date on the places and personalities that make the Chesapeake so unique. For those who live on the bay, Chesapeake Country is a celebration. For those who do not, it is an invitation to explore. And for everyone, it is a journey of discovery.
Read MoreHidden Maryland: In Search of America in Miniature
Tour the USA — in Maryland! This oddly-configured state — the ninth smallest — has been called "American in Miniature." Within its borders: maritime (Chesapeake!) and mountains (Appalachia), the industrial north (Baltimore), the plantation South (Southern Maryland). It's all here in Hidden Maryland: In Search of America in Miniature. Gene Meyer has spent decades exploring the state's hidden nooks and crannies, meeting people and finding places not on any traditional tour map. This richly illustrated guide through the state's regions, with side trips to its sporting life, military history and more, will delight and enthrall you. Plus, unique profiles of such Free State personalities as noir novelist and filmmaker George Pelecanos, wine guru Robert Parker, and Tony Mendez, the CIA operative behind ARGO, the successful extraction of American hostages in Iran turned into a 2012 Oscar-winning film, and Charlie Koiner, an honest-to-goodness urban farmer. In search of America in Miniature? You will find it all here, in Gene Meyer's readable, viewable Hidden Maryland.
"If Maryland is for crabs, then Gene Meyer is for Maryland. He's visited every corner of the state. That's no easy task, given how squiggly Maryland's border is in places. And after decades spent plumbing every nook and cranny -- from seashore to mountain -- Gene reveals a simple truth: Maryland's greatest natural resource is its people." – John Kelly, Washington Post columnist
"Back when Gene Meyer wrote for The Washington Post, I followed him closely. His stories from across Maryland popped with discovery and read-out-loud prose. His superb story-telling skills obviously continued into his Hidden Maryland days. In each tale, he makes his readers feel like fellow travelers." – Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun columnist
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