Lassoing the Sun: A Year in America's National Parks

Written by Mark Woods

Narrated by Corey M. Snow

Many childhood summers, Mark Woods piled into a station wagon with his parents and two sisters and headed to America's national parks. Mark's most vivid childhood memories are set against a backdrop of mountains, woods, and fireflies in places like Redwood, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon national parks.

On the eve of turning fifty and a little burned out, Mark decided to reconnect with the great outdoors. He'd spend a year visiting the national parks. He planned to take his mother to a park she'd not yet visited and to re-create his childhood trips with his wife and their iPad-generation daughter.

But then the unthinkable happened: his mother was diagnosed with cancer, given just months to live. Mark had initially intended to write a book about the future of the national parks, but Lassoing the Sun grew into something more: a book about family, the parks, the legacies we inherit, and the ones we leave behind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Aug 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781515980186

Mark Woods

Mark Woods served as a Baptist pastor, before moving on to journalism. A former editor of the Baptist Times and the Methodist Recorder, Mark currently works as Managing Editor of Christian Today.

Reviews for Lassoing the Sun

[castlelass · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“The healing solitudes still existed on Haleakala. I could vouch for that. But if the year taught me anything it was that they still exist all over America. Yes, they’re dwindling and under constant attack, but they’re out there. They can be found in deserts and rainforests, canyons and islands, the stars and the sun. They can be found on the way to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and the top of Half Dome. They can be found in a seventeen-ton boulder in a Pennsylvania field and a stone in a child’s hand.”Beautifully written chronicle about visiting twelve US national parks over the course of a year. The author starts the year at Acadia in Maine and ends in Haleakalā in Hawaii. In the early part of 2012, his mother was diagnosed with cancer, so the book becomes both a travelogue and a reflection on aging and loss. He revisits childhood memories of his parents bringing him to the national parks. His recounts the discoveries of his own children, as they learn to appreciate nature, creating memories that will last a lifetime. He addresses current environmental issues that are impacting the parks. This book speaks to the beauty in silence. It acknowledges the foresight of earlier national figures in setting aside these lands for everyone to enjoy. Mark Woods has a knack for capturing the sights and sounds of the natural world. The book is also a lovely tribute to his mother. 4.5

[kaylaraeintheway · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mark Woods decided to got one National Park (or memorial, or recreation area, or monument) a month during the Centennial of he National Park system. His goal was to address one aspect of the parks that could affect their future (pollution, over crowding, climate change, etc.). However, shortly into his project, his mother, the woman who helped nurture his love for the outdoors and national parks, was diagnosed with cancer. Despite this, Mark continued his travels, sometimes with family members, sometimes with friends, mostly alone. He talked with many park rangers and park goers, each one with their own special stories and connections to the places they live and work. Soon, Mark realized that his project was. not only about the uncertain future of the parks, but his uncertain future as well - one that would soon not include his mother. I really loved this book. I initially picked it up because I too love the national parks and worry about their future in a world (and country) that seems to be caring about them less and less. As I was reading this, though, I gained a renewed sense of hope as Mark told of his encounters with the people who are working to improve and preserve these spaces. But more than a reflection on the outdoors, this is a book about acceptance, adaptation, and moving forward. Mark Woods writes about the sights and sounds of nature as eloquently as he writes about the rage and sadness of dealing with death. In the final chapter, as he is standing in the Haleakala Crater in Hawaii watching the last sunset of the year, he recounts the tale that leads to the title of the book, and it (and the connection of it all) took my breath away.