In Praise of Animals: A Treasury of Poems, Quotations, and Readings [Paperback]

Edward Searl (Compiler)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2007

Companionship, love, labor, even survival--animals offer all of these and more. In Praise of Animals honors the animals in our lives. In this unique collection, Edward Searl has gathered poems, prose, blessings, chants--tributes of all kinds, ancient and modern. He explores the varied topics of pets, wildlife, stewardship, ecology, evolution, and the spiritual connection among all creatures.

In Praise of Animals is the ideal gift for animal lovers of all kinds--from those who work with animals to those who are welcoming a new pet or grieving the loss of one, to nature lovers in general. Perfect for animal-blessing ceremonies and other rituals that honor the animal kingdom.

* Inspiring selections culled from a variety of sources, ancient and modern. This collection features poetry and prose from across the ages and around the world and includes passages from fiction, science, and children's literature.

* From pets to wildlife, an anthology unlike any other. Offers selections on mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, work animals, and more.

* Edward Searl is a seasoned minister of other successful collected anthologies on such topics as birth, marriage, and death.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Edward Searl has been a minister for more than twenty-five years. He received his bachelor of theology degree from McGill University and was ordained in 1978. Searl served the First Unitarian Church in Youngstown, Ohio for six years and has been minister of the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale, Illinois since 1983. He is the author of In Memoriam: A Guide to Modern Funeral and Memorial Services and A Place of Your Own. He lives in LaGrange, Illinois.

Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: Skinner House (May 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558965114
• ISBN-13: 978-1558965119
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 6.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,147,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a Unitarian Universalist minister -- humanistic in orientation and steeped in Natural Religion. Since 1983 I've been minister of the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale, IL, a suburb fifteen miles west of Chicago.

I studied American history as an undergraduate at the University of Delaware and as a graduate student at the University of Vermont. I received my theological training at McGill University's Faculty of Religious Studies in Montreal. I lived in Canada for six years and am forever nostalgic for that wonderful country and its civil people. I've been a Unitarian Universalist minister since 1977. Through 1983 I was minister of the First Unitarian Church of Youngstown, Ohio.

I favor back roads and small towns throughout America, urban strolls in Chicago neighborhoods, ethnic restaurants and country cafes, and vegetarian food. Influences include Emerson and Parker, Twain, Jung, Fromm and Frankl, Steinbech and Sinclair Lewis, J. W. Krutch and Hal Borland. I adore Debussy. The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca are my nominees for top movies, but in the right mood, I'll vote for Cinema Paradiso, and sometimes for Blade Runner. In my estimation, James Lee Burke is a much underestimated American author and Ross Lockridge, Jr.s 1947, Raintree County, is the great American novel.