Ethics for Jessica

Jessicas grandmother writes from her loft at her Wisconsin lakeside cottage of the intangibles she wants to give to Jessica and her generation. Writing in view of the red pines and birch trees the water and the light with the sound of loons in the distance Gayle Graham Yates reflects upon insights knowledge and stories she has learned. A woman family member citizen environmentalist and spiritual seeker Yates considers in this memoir-as-letter-to-her-granddaughter both distresses and joys people opportunities and education that have shaped her own life and that she wants to pass along.. The flow of the book is metaphorically seasonal from autumn through summer. Moving through ethical frameworks drawn from Aristotles ethics and the Ojibway narrative by Ignatia Broker Night Flying Woman the chapters develop sequentially through ways of learning ways of loving and ways of hoping. All this is to the end of lovingly transmitting to her granddaughter what she knows.. Which of us would not want a written testimony from our grandmothers about their lives and values and which of us of grandparent age would not wish to write one (but rarely get around to it!) as part of our legacy? In Ethics for Jessica Gayle Graham Yates...decants a lifetime of wisdom and experience: all she holds dear that she wants to pass on. And in all her words its the love that comes through most powerfully. Readers do not have to be her granddaughte to glean from these pages guidance vision strength delight and edification to enhance the course of their own lives.---Susan Deborah King author of Tabernacle Coven and One-Breasted Woman. In this book Gayle Graham Yates skillfully interweaves storytelling with finely crafted writing about the natural world and reflections about how to live an ethical life. Listening to her voice and entering into her imagery a sense of urgency emerges. What we pass on to the next few generations will make all the difference to our individual and collective future.---Deborah J. Haynes author of Book of This Place: The Land Art and Spirituality