Diana Muir, also known as
Diana Muir Appelbaum, is a
Newton, MassachusettsNewton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2000 census, the population of Newton was 83,829, making it the tenth largest city in the state.-Villages:...
writer and historian. Muir is best known for her 2000 book,
Reflections in Bullough's PondReflections in Bullough's Pond: Economy and Ecosystem in New England is a book by Diana Muir. The Providence Journal called Bullough’s Pond "a masterpiece," and Publishers Weekly called it "lyrical"...
, a history of the impact of human activity on the
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
ecosystem.
Muir was born and raised in the small town of Old Lyme, Conn. As a student, Muir spent a year as an exchange student in Chile with
AFS Intercultural ProgramsAFS Intercultural Programs was established in 1915 by A. Piatt Andrew, a onetime economics professor at Harvard University and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury...
. She attended
Barnard CollegeBarnard College is a women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1902...
of
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...
in New York City.
Diana Muir, also known as
Diana Muir Appelbaum, is a
Newton, MassachusettsNewton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2000 census, the population of Newton was 83,829, making it the tenth largest city in the state.-Villages:...
writer and historian. Muir is best known for her 2000 book,
Reflections in Bullough's PondReflections in Bullough's Pond: Economy and Ecosystem in New England is a book by Diana Muir. The Providence Journal called Bullough’s Pond "a masterpiece," and Publishers Weekly called it "lyrical"...
, a history of the impact of human activity on the
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
ecosystem.
Personal life
Muir was born and raised in the small town of Old Lyme, Conn. As a student, Muir spent a year as an exchange student in Chile with
AFS Intercultural ProgramsAFS Intercultural Programs was established in 1915 by A. Piatt Andrew, a onetime economics professor at Harvard University and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury...
. She attended
Barnard CollegeBarnard College is a women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1902...
of
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...
in New York City. Her parents are Elizabeth and
Peter KarterPeter Karter is an American engineer and one of the pioneers of the modern recycling industry. He lives in Old Lyme, Connecticut.-Personal life, education, and early career:Karter was born in Chicago, Illinois...
. She is married to
Paul S. AppelbaumPaul Stuart Appelbaum is an American psychiatrist, and an expert on legal and ethical issues in medicine and psychiatry.-Biography:...
, a psychiatrist and professor at Columbia University with whom she has co-authored articles. They have three adult children.
Reflections in Bullough's Pond
According to the Daily News Tribune, "Muir's book
Reflections in Bullough's Pond reads more like a novel than a history book. In the book, Muir shows the historical relationship between New England's economy and the environment. She expands the relationship into a national and global analysis of America's, and the world's, current environmental and political problems: global warming, ozone depletion, and Middle East oil dependence, to name a few. Muir claims America's oil dependent economy has hit a dead end. Muir argues that Americans can, and must, make economic changes to alleviate their environmental and political problems."
Muir draws on many academic disciplines in her work, as the Boston Globe put it, "She's an economist. Then, again, maybe she's really an ecologist. Although some book critics and readers consider her a New England historian. Actually, Newton author Diana Muir is probably all of the above... Although her book was well received by economic historians who like to look at how industries rise and fall, Muir doesn't call herself a lay economist. 'I'm an historian,' she said. 'And it seems to me that any intelligent person has to enjoy nature and care about the environment, and so those interests all came together.' So, she's a shameless environmentalist, too."
Environmentalism
Muir, an environmental historian, is a critic of American choice of "profitability over sustainability." She has been called "Malthusian," and a "shameless environmentalist." She has written a column for the
Massachusetts Sierran, the magazine of the Massachusetts
Sierra ClubThe Sierra Club is the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892 in San Francisco, California by the well-known conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
.
Children's books
Muir is the author of two picture books. When
Giants in the Land was named one of the Yankee Magazine 100 Classic New England Children's Books, Muir told a reporter that "Kids that age are voracious and want to be read to a lot, and there are many wonderful picture books, but this [list] might make it a little easier for people. Librarians know all those books, but aunts and grandparents going to buy a book for a child don't always know where to go after [they've bought]
Make Way for DucklingsMake Way for Ducklings is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941, the book tells the story of a pair of mallard ducks who decide to raise their family on an island in the lagoon in Boston Public Garden, a park in the center of Boston,...
.'"
Genetics and Identity
Muir has published a number of articles on genetics and ethnicity, defending the position that ethnicity is a matter of language and customs, not genetic descent.
Thanksgiving and The Glorious Fourth
Muir is the author of histories of the Fourth of July and
ThanksgivingThanksgiving may refer to:*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the second Monday in October.*Thanksgiving...
.
Amitai Etzioni-Biography:Amitai Etzioni is a German-Israeli-American sociologist. In 1933, Amitai Etzioni was only four years old when the Nazis rose to power in Germany. He was separated from his family but reunited with them by the year 1947...
has called Muir's books key works in the social history of holidays.
Media
Muir has appeared on The History Channel, the BBC,
National Public RadioNational Public Radio is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, signed into law...
, Voice of America and other news programs, and publishes articles in a range of scholarly and popular journals.
Books
Reflections in Bullough's Pond; Economy and Ecosystem in New England
Thanksgiving; an American Holiday
The Glorious Fourth; An American Holiday
Prizes and Awards
For Reflections in Bullough's Pond (University of New England Press, 2000)
- Massachusetts Book Award, 2001
For Cocoa Ice (Orchard Books 1997)
- Lupine Award, Maine Library Association, Honor Book, 1997
For Giants in the Land (Houghton Mifflin 1993)
- Booklist
Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online. It is published twice monthly September through June and monthly in July...
, Top of the List, best juvenile nonfiction book for Youth
- Jefferson Cup - Virginia Library Association 1994 Honor Book
- Starred reviews in Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
, BooklistBooklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online. It is published twice monthly September through June and monthly in July...
, and Kirkus Reviews
- School Library Journal
School Library Journal is a monthly publication with articles and reviews for school and public librarians who work with young people.It was founded in 1954 as Junior Libraries after breaking off from Library Journal. In 2006 School Library Journal had a circulation of 38,000 subscribers and over...
Best Book
- The Bulletin
The Bulletin is a discontinued Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its...
(Blue Ribbon winner)
- Yankee Magazine, 40 Classic New England Children’s Books
- An ALA
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 65,000 members....
Notable Book
Articles
Genetics and the Jewish Identity, with Paul S. Appelbaum, Jerusalem Post, Feb. 11, 2008
The Gene Wars, with Paul S. Appelbaum, Azure, Winter 5767 / 2007, No. 27
A Land without a People for a People without a Land, Middle Eastern Quarterly, Spring 2008, Vol. 15, No. 2