TYPORAMA
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As Infinite Paradise illustrates, the complexity, beauty, and power of the natural world is available to any reader who stays open to the splendid lifeforms they live among.
“You will be the richer for Beeaff’s exploration of the natural world in Infinite Paradise; empowered to see the world anew with a wisdom and understanding that will enhance your own life.” ~ Florence Reiss Kraut, author of Street Corner Dreams
“There is a meditative stillness in Dianne Ebertt Beeaff’s Infinite Paradise, Witnessing the Wild. This, together with a deep respect for the nobility of nature, makes her book a contemplation on our earthly paradise, using a fine filagree of words.~ Diana Beresford-Kroeger, author of To Speak for the Trees
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REVIEWED BY CAROL THOMPSON FOR READERS' FAVORITE:
Infinite Paradise by Dianne Ebertt Beeaff is a memoir that immerses readers in a heartfelt connection with nature.
The narrative weaves personal reflections with the physical transformations of a sixteen-acre tract in Southern Ontario, artfully depicted as an embodiment of paradise.
Throughout the memoir, Beeaff charts the land’s evolution through the changing seasons, effectively grounding readers in the cyclical rhythms of nature.
Her vivid descriptions, from the delicate emergence of spring flowers to the rich tapestry of autumn leaves, emphasize the beauty of the natural world, its resilience, and the inevitable passage of time.
What is particularly striking about Beeaff’s narrative is her ability to draw upon historical and ecological contexts, enriching the understanding of the land’s past, from its geological formations to its occupancy by Indigenous peoples and later settlers.
Infinite Paradise also serves as a subtle yet powerful commentary on environmental stewardship.
Dianne Ebertt Beeaff's detailed account of the land’s flora and fauna and her observations on the impacts of climate and human activity invite readers to reflect on their relationship with the environment.
It prompts us to reconsider how we interact with our surroundings as individuals and communities.
Beeaff includes many beautiful, colorful photographs taken by several photographers that tell their own stories.
Infinite Paradise is an invitation to pause and appreciate the world around us.
It encourages a deeper appreciation for the small wonders of the natural world and offers a meditative reflection on the spaces we inhabit.
This book is a perfect choice for those who cherish nature and seek peace and reflection in their reading.
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A REVIEW FROM KIRKUS REVIEWS:
"When she was 9 years old in 1957, Beeaff fell in love with her family’s 16-acre tract along the Conestoga River in Southern Ontario, Canada.
Now caring for the property with her husband, Beeaff shares the subtle shifts and major changes that occur there from season to season.
The book comprises four parts, one for each season, which are then further separated into a handful of days per month. The chapters introduce a variety of different subjects: Historical (Paleo-Indians are believed to have lived in the area beginning from 9,000 B.C.E.); scientific (the end product of “sugaring” (aka maple syrup) has a sugar/water ratio of 2-to-1); and personal (Beeaff’s many childhood memories include one of her father rafting down the river to deliver piles of cut wood). But it’s the lush descriptions and observations of flora and fauna that form the heart of the book.
Whether enjoying the silence of a moonlit night or reveling in the sightings of a local beaver (who they name Archibald Beaudelaire XXII, or “Beau” for short), Beeaff homes in on the minutiae of life in the forest by combining memoir-style musings with methodical observations of nature.
The eloquent, expressive prose limns the beauty of the changing seasons as they unfold: “Early morning’s solid, ash-bottomed overcast holds the heaviness of winter.”
While some narrative threads can wander (a lengthy discussion about the traditional meanings of various gemstones seems out of place, for example), the book as a whole hearkens back to a Walden-like simplicity that feels both refreshing and rstorative.
Beeaff’s testament to the Canadian woodlands through writing and color photographs reminds readers to step outside and take a breath.
A richly detailed, reflective account.
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ABOUT INFINITE PARADISE, WITNESSING THE WILD:
With personal vignettes and color photographs that track the seasons of a single year, Infinite Paradise connects readers with the wildlife on sixteen acres of forest and water meadow along the Conestoga River in Southern Ontario, Canada.
Broken into seasons and then further into months and days, the book focuses on the buoyancy of life, showing readers of any culture that in a world battered by global warming, habitat destruction, and species extinction, many riches still remain.
Interacting with nature can combat stress, heal the human spirit, and foster new and calming perspectives on life.
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Q&A With Dianne Ebertt Beeaff
How did you become a professional writer?
The single book that made me want to be a writer was a children’s biography of the singer Marion Anderson called Deep River Girl, which I found in third grade in the bookmobile that stopped once a week one street over from my home in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The challenges Marion faced, her passion—the arc of her life—showed me even then that every person, every thing, every place has a story, and that, perhaps, some day I could tell some of them. I began my writing career in journalism, often writing profiles of people who displayed a similar intensity in their work. I try to apply that same passion to the books I write.
Writing brings both escape and pleasure in difficult times. Writing also tells the truth on many levels. Sometimes the only way to tell the truth is to tell a story. Or as Annie Lamott says, writers write because they have to, and they have to write because they need to. It validates who I am in some sense. I think people who write and need to write, whether or not they become published, are, and always will be, real writers.
What inspired you to write Infinite Paradise, Witnessing the Wild?
As a child, I grew up in this remarkable space. Sixteen wild acres along the Conestoga River in Southern Ontario, Canada. Beyond the anecdotal vignettes in the book, I hope readers will be moved in some small way to learn about and appreciate the many miracles of the natural world and its healing power that surrounds them. To appreciate and address in any way they can the plight of that world and focus on the accessible beauty that remains.
What kind of books do you read yourself?
Just as I write across genres in both fiction and non-fiction, I read the same. I draw inspiration from many areas of literature. At the present time, I’m re-reading Owls and Other Fantasies by the great poet Mary Oliver, The Demon of Unrest by Eric Larson, about the opening of the American Civil War, and Diana Beresford’s To Speak for the Trees. Reading in nearly all genres, fiction and non-fiction, keeps me engaged and excited about the writing life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dianne Ebertt Beeaff is the author of six books, including the best-selling memoir, A Grand Madness, Ten Years on the Road with U2, the sequel, A Grand Madness, U2 Twenty Years After, the award-winning historical fiction novel, Power's Garden, Homecoming, a book of poetry illustrated with her graphite drawings, Spirit Stones, Unraveling the Megalithic Mysteries of Western Europe’s Prehistoric Monuments, and the short story collection On Tràigh Lar Beach.
She began her writing career in journalism and her work has appeared in a variety of nonfiction publications, including Arizona Highways, Tucson Magazine, Vegetarian Times and Horse and Horseman.
As an artist, Beeaff works primarily in graphite and watercolor and has been featured in local, national, and international galleries. A native of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, Beeaff lives in Arizona with her husband, Dan.
She has a second home in Southern Ontario, Canada.
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I am the author of six previous books, Homecoming, a book of poetry (Hawkmoon Publications, 1997); A Grand Madness, Ten Years on the Road with U2 (Hawkmoon Publications, 2000); Power’s Garden, an historical fiction novel (Five Star Publications, 2009); Spirit Stones, Unraveling the Megalithic Mysteries of Western Europe’s Prehistoric Monuments (Five Star Publications, 2011); and A Grand Madness, U2 Twenty Years After (Hawkmoon Publications, 2019), and On Traigh Lar Beach, a collection of short stories (She Writes Press, 2020)
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