A Few Paternal Acres: a memoir of a piece of land

In Paternal Acres McAlister crafts an alluring sense of place, eloquently weaving the history of his acres with the hidden lives of its denizens. Through the stories of its stewards past and present, McAlister coaxes the history of his family's acres along the lower Guadalupe River in South Texas, from its nearly forgotten recesses.This homage to a piece of land, the piece McAlister is intimately tied to, sets the bar high for his fellow biologists, naturalists, conservationists, and humans. McAlister's example is austere and rugged; most of us will not choose to live this way, even to save the planet. However, by examining McAlister's argument for the preservation of his wild land, we cannot fail to feel called to do everything we can to help preserve all wild lands. This fervent plea for gentle treatment, for protection of the wild land we have left, offers the reader:*a "fly on the wall" account of a river bottom forest waking up for the day*how a parcel of land evolved from a bit of wilderness into a legal entity*accounts of the lives and fortunes of past and current owners of this land*a glimpse at the lives of rural black people in 1930's-40's, the bad and the good*samples of Grampa's horrific and enthralling bedtime tales*an agonizing record of graveling operations on the virgin land*a look at what what "ownership" of land meansa vision of the possible future of this land and all wild lands.