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Robert Aquinas McNally

@ramcnally.bsky.social
194 followers 117 following 118 posts

Writer finding & telling stories at the intersection of the human and the wild. Author most recently of CAST OUT OF EDEN. Now working on TO SEE SUCH TREES. Wild justice in the forest, and out.

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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Read all about Trump's continuing, profit-driven assault on the earth in my latest Substack post. And let me know what you think here or in the comments. ramcnally.substack.com/p/trumps-wil...
ramcnally.substack.com
Trump’s Wild Outrages Only Get Worse
The mess will continue well after the MAGA crew leaves office. That’s the point.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
My latest on Substack, a warm-up for the book in progress. And please subscribe. It's free. Readers count more than money. ramcnally.substack.com/p/chicken-or...
ramcnally.substack.com
Chicken or Egg, Redwood Grove or Cathedral?
Which came first, of course, plus the why and wherefore of how one prompts comparison with the other
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Trump's latest attack on public lands raises big questions: Is the planet a commodity to be priced and marketed? Or is it a font of sustenance, reverence, and awe? Learn more about the questions, and the answers, in my latest Substack post. ramcnally.substack.com/p/trumps-ass...
ramcnally.substack.com
Trump’s Assault on Bears Ears Comes Down to a Struggle for the Soul
Is the planet a commodity to be priced and sold off? Or is it a font of sustenance, reverence, and awe?
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Read my latest post all about the forest path to discovering what Gerard Manley Hopkins called "the dearest freshness deep down things." It's there for the finding. ramcnally.substack.com/p/that-fresh...
ramcnally.substack.com
That Freshness Deep Down
The forest offers a path to the core of being. All you have to do is show up and pay attention.
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Katya Cengel @katyacengel.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
New newsletter out now. mailchi.mp/d4886446b3a1...
mailchi.mp
Katya's book and journalism news and more
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
There is wealth to be made and a price to be paid. Guess who’s taking the money and who’s ponying up. Read all about the latest chapter in the long story of greed at Bears Ears National Monument in my latest Substack post. ramcnally.substack.com/p/trumps-bea...
ramcnally.substack.com
Trump’s Bears Ears Re-redux: Insider Greed Lays Waste to Land and People
There is wealth to be made and a price to be paid. Guess who’s taking the money and who’s paying the piper.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Tricksters all, predators shock us arrogant humans out of our self-inflated ways. That’s good for trees. Read all about it in my latest essay: ramcnally.substack.com/p/val-plumwo...
ramcnally.substack.com
Val Plumwood’s Attack Crocodile Says Something Critical About Redwoods
Tricksters all, predators shock us arrogant humans out of our self-inflated ways. That’s good for trees.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Three cheers! The Yurok Tribe takes ownership of former sawmill site on stolen ancestral land and transforms it into a public gateway to the redwoods. Read all about it in my latest Substack post. ramcnally.substack.com/p/o-rew-come...
ramcnally.substack.com
‘O Rew Comes Full Circle
Three cheers! The Yurok Tribe takes ownership of former sawmill site on stolen ancestral land and transforms it into a public gateway to the redwoods.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
My latest, on grief at the loss of the wild. Do give it a read and let me know what you think. Thanks. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
We Mourn Lost Family and Friends. What About Mountains, Reefs, and Forests?
Sadly, we tend to soldier on as if nothing has happened. But something has been lost, and we don’t know what to do with the real, often-unnamed grief.
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Rosemary Sekora @rasekora.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Paid opportunity for @unlincoln.bsky.social students!
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Adding insult to injury, Trump's minions are seeking to erase the five Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition tribes from the national monument their vision created. Nothing white nationalist about that, right? www.sltrib.com/news/environ...
sltrib.com
Days after slashing Bears Ears, Trump administration removes tribal seals from monument signs
President Donald Trump shrank Bears Ears by 91% and disbanded a tribal-led commission. Now, the BLM is removing tribal seals from remaining monument signs.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
The president is illegally hacking two national monuments into scattered splinters and kicking Indigenous nations to the curb. Nothing white nationalist about that, right? Read all about it in my latest post: open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall....
open.substack.com
Trump Moves to Crush Utah Tribes and Wild Lands
The president is illegally hacking two national monuments into scattered splinters and kicking Indigenous nations to the curb.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
It's enough to give one hope: Pasadena students and allies protest removal of beloved trees the school district plans to take down. And they may be winning. Read all about it in my latest Substack post. And please do subscribe -- it's free. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
Pasadena Protesters Sit in Marked Trees to Stop Removal
Cheered on by storied tree sitter Julia Butterfly Hill, citizen activists hope to preserve beloved trees the school district plans to take down.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
That’s not exactly what Ronald Reagan said. But what he did say missed the point every bit as badly. A lot of folks still do. Read all about it in my latest Substack post. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Back in the day Americans destroyed wilderness as evil’s home turf. Trump and MAGA are still down with that. Read all about it in my latest Substack post. And please do subscribe -- it's free. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
The Big, Bad Woods
Back in the day Americans destroyed wilderness as evil’s home turf. Trump and MAGA are still down with that.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
The next book begins to take shape, and my Substack essay series shifts focus. Read all about it in my latest post. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
When a redwood goes by Hyperion or Stratospheric Giant, no longer is it just any old redwood. The name changes everything, something Rudyard Kipling would understand. Read all about it in my latest Substack post. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
What a Difference a Name Makes
When a redwood goes by Hyperion or Stratospheric Giant, no longer is it just any old redwood. Names change everything.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Find out about the gray whale, the people it has changed, and a certain writer. All in my latest Substack post. Do let me know what you think. ramcnally.substack.com/p/marine-det...
ramcnally.substack.com
Marine Detour: Gray Whale Lamentations
It was nearly wiped out then recovered. Now things are taking a dire turn in this personal story.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
In its way, this is a story of cosmic humility. Read all about it my latest Substack post. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
Trees Go Longer, Farther, Deeper into Space Than Humans
Artemis II continued the arboreal cosmic travel that began with Apollo 14, but Artemis I took it the farthest yet.
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Reposted by Robert Aquinas McNally
Jane Friedman @janefriedman.com · 09/04/2026
Author Melissa Fraterrigo designed and hosted a free memoir-writing workshop for anyone who purchased her forthcoming book, and discovered that many readers were eager for an insider’s perspective on how to draft a memoir. Here's how she did it: janefriedman.com/teach-your-b...
janefriedman.com
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Just how tall can a tree grow? The answer, at least for the moment, is a little over 381 feet. Maybe, just maybe, it can reach even higher. No wonder it carries the name of a Greek god known as a primal force of nature. Read all about it in my latest Substack. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Clearcuts maximizes profit and destroys forests for generations. The Menominees are showing us what sustainable forestry looks like -- and making a living in he process. Read all about it in my latest Substack post. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
To Make America’s Forests Healthy Again, Look to the Original Owners
The Menominees steward a Wisconsin forest that nurtures both trees and tribe.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
A year ago, Trump ordered national parks and monuments to scrub the unpleasant history they present. Now they're doing it. George Orwell warned us about this. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
The Dangerous Books MAGA Plans to Ban
A year ago, Trump ordered national parks and monuments to scrub the unpleasant history they present. George Orwell warned us about this.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
My CAST OUT OF EDEN featured in the latest post of the Univ. of Nebraska Press blog!
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
If it hadn’t been for three activist women, writers all, California’s first state park and redwoods preserve never would have come into being. Read all about it in my latest Substack post. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
Big Basin Wasn’t One Man’s Big Win
If it hadn’t been for three activist women, writers all, California’s first state park and redwoods preserve never would have come into being.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
As the bombs fall and people die, the wild world holds out hope you can see. Read all about it in my latest Substack. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
The Wild Beauty This Warring World Needs
As bombs fall and people die, spring flowers hold out hope.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Get whole story of wild riches to sold-off rags in my latest Substack. ramcnally.substack.com/p/making-the...
ramcnally.substack.com
Making the Majestic into the Mundane
In the market a tree is no longer a tree. It’s stakes, shakes, boards, pilings, ties, etc., all at a price.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Get the whole story in my latest Substack.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Two giant redwoods once guided sailing vessels past a shipwreck hazard. Then they disappeared into some lumberman’s pile of planks. Read all about them, and the rest of Oakland's redwoods, in my latest Substack. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
From Landmarks to Lumber
Two giant redwoods guided sailing vessels past a sunken hazard. Then they disappeared into some lumberman’s pile of planks.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
There is a power in small beings. First you have to attend to it -- something the Trump regime just hates. Read all about it in my latest Substack. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
The Little Bird That Stopped the Big Lumber Baron
But now MAGA is planning to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act and hand the trees over.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Given everything they were put through, the Wiyots should have been exterminated. But they refused to disappear. Read all about it in my latest Substack. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
Genocide and Resurrection on Humboldt Bay
Given everything they were put through, the Wiyots should have been exterminated. They refused to disappear.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Rain taught Thomas Merton how to attend to the moment. Then he saw the redwoods. Read all about it in my latest Substack. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
Rain and the Rhinoceros
When Thomas Merton encountered the redwoods, a rainy night had already primed him for revelation
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Trappist monk, mystic, & author of bestselling SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN Thomas Merton wrote of his pilgrimage to the redwoods, "Who can see such trees and bear to be away from them?" He vowed to return -- yet never did. Read all about it in my latest Substack. ramcnally.substack.com/p/to-see-suc...
ramcnally.substack.com
To See Such Trees
California’s redwoods drew mystic Thomas Merton toward the spiritual center he had long been seeking.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
In big struggles it's often the small things that make the difference. This is one such case, the story behind the name given to an old-growth redwood grove on California's Lost Coast. Read all about it in my latest Substack. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
The Massacre That Helped Save the Last Redwoods
Attaching a survivor’s name to an old-growth grove made its preservation immediate, personal, and possible.
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Reposted by Robert Aquinas McNally
Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Five years ago, Donald Trump instigated a violent insurrection in the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 election. The fact that the GOP coddled him, protected him, renominated him, and now support him in office, is a stain that will never be erased.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
My latest Subtack, on how Henry David Thoreau predicted Donald J. Trump's campaign to desecrate the wild by stripping it for parts. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
Thoreau Foresaw Trump’s Arctic Desecrations
The seer of Walden Pond understood how greedy men attack wild evidence of their own cosmic insignificance.
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Reposted by Robert Aquinas McNally
Karl Jacoby @karl-jacoby.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
As the New Year is born, envision less division in 2026. www.theborderchronicle.com/p/re-envisio...
theborderchronicle.com
“Re-envision No More Division”: A Reflective Photo Essay of 2025
Take a photographic stroll in 2025--from Inauguration Day in January to unauthorized cows crossing the Rio Grande in the fall--as we seek a “different way forward.”
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
My latest on Substack, about what Trump shares -- and doesn't -- with the epic hero Gilgamesh. It's the "doesn't" that really counts. Please give it a read and let me know what you think. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
What Trump Shares with Gilgamesh — and Where He Falls So Short
The Babylonian epic hero knew the impulse to destroy the green and wild, then he wised up. With Trump, wisdom is a forest too far.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
No less a prophetic vision than Moby-Dick fell for it. The madness continues today. Read all about it in my latest Substack. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
The Capitalist Delusion of Endless Supply Keeps Killing
No less a prophetic vision than "Moby-Dick" fell for it. The madness continues today.
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Reposted by Robert Aquinas McNally
University of Nebraska Press @univnebpress.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
@ramcnally.bsky.social joins the Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer to discuss CAST OUT OF EDEN, his new biography of John Muir. bit.ly/49H7bru
bit.ly
Unveiling the hidden story of John Muir
Author Robert Aquinas McNalley shares tales of John Muir and his racist attitudes in his new book, Cast out of Eden
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Unfortunately, the New York Times fell into a worn assumption about the wall separating environmentalism and social justice. It's not that simple. Read all about it in my latest Substack. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
Did Calling out John Muir Kill the Sierra Club?
According to the New York Times, the club’s repudiation of its founder for his attitudes on race helped trigger its decline. Really?
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Sometimes moving ahead means stepping aside to rethink. That's what I've been doing with my Substack for the past several weeks. Now it's back on track and following a different path from before. Let me know what you think. open.substack.com/pub/ramcnall...
open.substack.com
Back up and Running!
A pause clears the head and clarifies purpose.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Love it that my publisher, @univnebpress.bsky.social, makes sure that good reviews of my CAST OUT OF EDEN reach a wider reading audience.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Thomas Wilmer named his NPR "Journeys of Discovery" podcast with me about John Muir and CAST OUT OF EDEN the best of last year's best and has reposted it. Appreciation to Tom for the nod and to Katya Cengel for connecting me to Tom in the first place. www.kcbx.org/podcast/jour...
kcbx.org
Unveiling the hidden story of John Muir
Author Robert Aquinas McNalley shares tales of John Muir and his racist attitudes in his new book, Cast out of Eden
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
So, supplying the weapons of war makes said supplier a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. May want to rethink that.
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Sierra Club @sierraclub.org · 08/10/2025
In September, SC staff & volunteers traveled to D.C. to participate in Wilderness Week to ask Congress to protect our public lands, support the Roadless Area Conservation Act, and safeguard park rangers & other stewards of shared lands.   sc.org/RACA sc.org/LandsAction @natlwilderness.bsky.social
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
Tonight's the night! At 6:30 p.m. I'll be at the Mill Valley (Calif.) Public Library (375 Throckmorton) to talk about CAST OUT OF EDEN and take audience Q&A. To register for this free event, follow the link. Hope to see you there! millvalleylibrary.libcal.com/event/14529233
millvalleylibrary.libcal.com
Author Talk: Robert McNally on John Muir
The Mill Valley Library presents an evening with Robert McNally, author of Cast Out of Eden: The Untold Story of John Muir, Indigenous Peoples, and the American Wilderness. John...
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Next week, CAST OUT OF EDEN is heading to Mill Valley, CA. Wed., 10/8, 6:30–8, I'll be talking about the book and taking questions at the Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Ave. Register for the free event through the link. Hope to see you! millvalleylibrary.libcal.com/event/14529233
millvalleylibrary.libcal.com
Author Talk: Robert McNally on John Muir
The Mill Valley Library presents an evening with Robert McNally, author of Cast Out of Eden: The Untold Story of John Muir, Indigenous Peoples, and the American Wilderness. John...
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
“When you’re alone, you can become part of nature and your humanity doesn’t get in the way. It’s almost like an out-of-body experience when suddenly you hear different sounds and you smell different smells and you’re actually part of this amazing tapestry of life.” Jane Goodall, 2021.
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Robert Aquinas McNally @ramcnally.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
This evening, 9/24/, 7 p.m., I'll be talking with poet and scholar Denise Low-Weso re: John Muir and Native resilience as part of her Indigenous Voices series at THE 222 art gallery in Healdsburg, Calif. For tickets, follow the link. And please join me! the222.org/product/indi...
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