Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year
1 appearances
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Edition 12 (1989) Winner
Kathleen Meyer
キャスリーン・マイヤー
Kathleen Meyer
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1942-12-07 （Manhattan）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Manhattan (birthplace) → Western Montana
Career
- Occupations
- Outdoor writer, Environmental writer
- Active Years
- 1989-
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
How to Shit in the Woods
1989 Non-fiction / GuidebookA humorous yet practical guide to defecating outdoors where there are no modern toilets, and an environmental discussion of how human waste affects pristine ecosystems — covering digging techniques, locating high water lines, soil types for decomposition, and preventing contamination and disease spread.
Environmental protectionPractical outdoor livingHumor
Translations
- Multiple editions (revised editions)
Barefoot-Hearted: A Wild Life Among Wildlife
2001 Memoir / Nature writingA memoir recounting renovating and living in a dilapidated barn with her partner, encounters with skunks, mice and bears, and journeys driving a team and wagon across Rocky Mountain states; includes reflections on wildlife management and human-wildlife interactions.
Human-wildlife relationshipsRural livingPersonal experience narrative
Bibliography
- How to Shit in the Woods (1989; revised editions)
- Barefoot-Hearted (2001)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Conversational, candid tone with humorPractical, detail-oriented exposition
- Recurring Motifs
- Care for natural environmentsPractical outdoor knowledgeEthical issues in human-wildlife interactions
Legacy
Meyer is known for humorous, practical outdoor guides and memoirs; especially How to Shit in the Woods has been an influential handbook raising awareness of sanitation and environmental protection in outdoor recreation. Her contributions as an environmental/outdoor writer are recognized.
Quotes
-
Kathleen Meyer has contributed to environmental awareness while lending a grand old English word the respectability it hasn’t had since Chaucer’s day.
Source: Audubon Magazine (review by Frank Graham)
Trivia
- Her best-known book, How to Shit in the Woods, is noted for its unusual title and has been revised in multiple editions.
- Partner: Patrick McCarron.
- Resides in western Montana.