Hi all,

From this morning's NYTs, an interview with Thomas Pakenham, author of "Meetings with Remarkable Trees"...
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NYTs: In the new book, you confess to a loathing for bonsai. What is so bad about bonsai?

TP: They give me the creeps. I never would want to be involved with a bonsai. Because they cut all the living material of the root except the youngest growth, in order to confine it to the prison of its pot. It's like binding Chinese women's feet. Natural bonsai can be quite moving. Sometimes you see them growing out of rocks on mountains and surviving in terribly hostile environments, and that is moving.
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What an unfortunate and harmful bit if ignorance to be expressed in a national publication. As Dr. Nina Shishkoff noted on the IBC this morning, outreach is needed!

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

Thanks for sharing the text with us K.A Rutledge! Me myself can't understand how bonsai could be so brutal, maby he has some bad experience with bonsai people and it was somekind of personal thing against us

There are those who would debate many misconceptions about many things in this world. It boils down to how "open minded" you will be. Meat eaters and vegetarians, Religious and non, etc and so on.

Did we talk to him personally? I always tend to believe all of what I see and hear, not what I read. The tone of his printed word, is it misinterpreted? Do we know for sure why or when and how his feeling for bonsai came about? Was this an "oh by the way, this guy freaks out over bonsai?"

I dont know him, and my first instinct is to defend the irrationality of his comments. But, I dont know him, If he and I happened to come across each other for whatever reason, say we were on a plane, talked about stuff andwhy he made his comment to the affect he did in the NYT, I would hope that he and I could open it up a little for him. And perhaps with an adult like manner be able to share each others ideas in why we fealt the way we do. But the chance on that is slim, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt and say, to each his own.

His talent is within the realm of awesome photography of beautiful trees.


Paul

I think this guy just knows which side his bread is buttered on. He makes his living out of emotionalizing the experience of viewing and being around trees in the wild. The more hysterical and irrational the experience of viewing trees becomes, the more books and photos he'll sell.

I'm sure it's not that calculated, and that he is in fact hysterical about trees. He has obviously imbued trees with so much of his own identity that he can't help but feel threatened by bonsai "imprisoned" in their pots. Whatever. The guy's not a scientist, he's a photographer. He's entitled to get all emotional about his subjects. I just wish he could limit himself to subjects about which he has some knowledge.

What a bloody shame!. I loved his first book, and was very much looking forward to the second. I'll still buy a copy.

Let's not resort to ad hominem attacks. Rather, as some have said, this is a much-needed opportunity for outreach. I wish I had some sort of connection through which I could arrange an opportunity to talk with him. Surely bonsai is no more troubling than the trees from his first book that have been hollowed out to create living spaces...

Best regards,
Carl / Old Mister Crow

My attacks may have been ad hominem, but they were not without basis in fact. Read this article from September:

http://www.suntimes.co.za/2002/09/2...tyle/life04.asp

I don't think anything I said would conflict with Pakenham's self-image, although I'm certain he'd take exception to some of the terms I used.

You know i think Carl does have a point about this being a good opportunity for outreach, or maybe reaching out would be a better term. If you see thomas peckerham make sure you reach out and grab him by the hair and introduce a few well placed closed fists to his skull. I never knew they bound chinese woman's feet but from the ten minutes worth of "research" i did on it i would have to say that peckerhams comparison is pure horse puckey. i haven't seen a big mutated clump of stinky, pus infested roots during transplanting. I mean is this guy an ass(donkey) or what?

mike

I don't get what this guy's beef is at all. I did a little digging, and this guy has a Chinese Garden on his Estate (he's the Earl of Longford, apparently), and has had local artists carve shapes into the roots of ancient trees on the family property, he grows all kinds of plants in pots and in the ground, but he "loathes" bonsai. I agree with Carl that it would be a good thing to be able to write to this guy, but I haven't been able to find a single scrap of contact information for him.

One mans opinion, big deal. Don't worry, Tens of thousands understand and enjoy.

From Craig Cowing on the IBC:


That would be good. Another option is to write to Pakenham himself. You can do that through the publisher. The address is:

Thomas Pakenham
W. W. NORTON & COMPANY, INC.
500 Fifth Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10110
Tel 212-354-5500
Fax 212-869-0856

I got this address from Norton's website, so I'm not posting private information. I intend to write a letter to him, and I'll post it on the list when I finish it. I'd encourage others to write to the author also. Norton promises that they'll forward letters to authors, but they say they cannot forward emails.
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For what it's worth.

Kind regards,
Andy
zone 8, Texas