UGA alumnus Mark Warren will read from his book Two Winters in a Tipi: My Search for the Soul of the Forest as part of a UGA Libraries program Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. in the Sidney Samuel Thomas Reading Room on the third floor of the Miller Learning Center. The event is free and open to the public.
In 1989, Warren’s house was struck by lightning and burned down-along with all of his tools, the manuscript of the novel he’d been writing for seven years and the music he’d composed for most of his life.
Left only with the clothes he had on, a knife, a guitar and the field guides that had been in his truck, Warren decided to fulfill a childhood dream and made his home in a tepee. This transformed his relationship with the natural world and helped him become better acquainted with the seasons and living things around him.
Twenty years later and now living in a typical stick-built home, Warren views his two winters in a tepee as a cherished memory that fills him with gratitude.
Warren founded and runs the Medicine Bow Wilderness School in the North Georgia mountains, where he lives. He also is a national champion in whitewater canoeing and a winner of the World Championship Longbow Tournament.