A Piece of Paradise : A Story of Custer State Park Book

My interest in this book was due primarily to the fact that Aldo Leopold was born, raised and buried in my home town, Burlington, Iowa.
Growing up in Burlington, I knew of Lehigh-Leopold manufacturing, a furniture company but other than that, I never heard much about the Leopold family. The only knowledge I had of Aldo's existence was the result of my biking explorations through town and the discovery of a stately home over-looking the Mississippi, with a sign in the front side yard claiming to be the boyhood home of Aldo Leopold.

I attended school in Burlington for 11 years and not once was there even an introduction of Aldo Leopold and his accomplishments in any of my classrooms. Yet, as an adult, I moved to
Arizona and was treated as a semi-celebrity by a tree-hugging friend when he found out I was from Burlington, Iowa - the home of Aldo Leopold. I knew then I needed to take it upon myself to learn more about the man and his life.

I am happy to say there has been a resurgence of pride in Aldo's hometown. The community recently built a new school and allowed the citizens and any interested parties to vote on a name. The school is now called Aldo Leopold Middle School. I'm pretty sure they now teach the students something about this individual.
I think this book was a great introduction
to Aldo's early life, his experience, education, motivations and accomplishments. I was obviously very interested in his family background and early childhood because much of it was relatable to my own. However, there was much about his life in
Arizona I was not at all aware of and found very interesting, since I have lived here for over 25 years and seen some of the lands he would have explored.

There were parts of the reading that were dry and slow moving but overall, I think the book is a great introduction to Aldo Leopold and his accomplishments.

My favorite parts of the book were his family life in Burlington and in discovering, in his later life, he carried a cane that he used for a variety of things but primarily as a 'threat to house cats, wherever, whenever." Leopold disliked roaming pet cats because they prey on wild birds unnecessarily. Who knew Aldo and I are kindred spirits? Now, if I could only convince my neighbors to read this book.