Friends of John Muir's Birthplace

Celebrate John Muir’s birthday with a guided walk around the places that were important to the young John growing up in Dunbar in the 1840s. What games did he play? Find out about ‘sookin in goats’ and Dandy Doctors’. That helped keep him out of trouble! Tean and cake at the Birthplace after the walk. Booking is essential. Contact John Muir’s Birthplace on 01368 865899. Cost is £3. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Venue: Start and finish at John Muir’s Birthplace

Monday 18th April to Saturday 7th May
Celebrating John Muir’s written legacy. As well as his campaigns to protect wildness and travel journals, Muir explored poetry and wrote many letters to family and friends.
Venue: Gibb Room, Dunbar Library

Yet another major Muir-related event. This event is organised and hosted by the American equivalent of Friends – the John Muir Association – at the John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez, California.


Earth Day Celebration

John Muir inspired people all over the world to “keep close to nature’s heart.” In this spirit, we celebrate John Muir’s April 21st birthday at his former home, along with Earth Day, which brings us closer to knowing our planet and practical ways to help it thrive.

John Muir National Historic Site – John Muir Earth Day Celebration 2011 (U.S. National Park Service)

Join us on Saturday April 16, 2011 from 10 AM to 4 PM for the John Muir Earth Day Celebration 2011. The John Muir Association is proud to present this event along with the National Park Service. This free event will have 50 exhibitors of the green or community kind. There will also be music, food and kids activities! Muir Power to You!

Although the following documentary film is only showing in the US on the PBS channel – so the time stated is for a US timezone – Friends… thought this news to be worthy of wider publicity. Perhaps we could arrange a showing of the video in conjunction with Dunbar Film?

John Muir in the New World

National Broadcast on PBS
April 18, 9:00 PM
Preservationist, naturalist, author, explorer, activist, scientist, farmer, John Muir (4/21/1838 – 12/24/1914) was all these things and more. Nearly a century after his death, this Scottish American is remembered and revered as the father of the environmental movement and the founder of the Sierra Club, the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization in the United States. This 90 minute documentary John Muir in the New World delves into Muir’s life and influences with reenactments filmed in high definition throughout the majestic landscapes he visited: Wisconsin, Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, the Alhambra Valley of California, and the glaciers of Alaska.

There’s also a trailer – YouTube – AMERICAN MASTERS | John Muir in the New World – Trailer | PBS and a Facebook page – with almost 12000 fans – dedicated to this documentary: Continue reading →

An exhibition marking the 30th anniversary of our twinning with Martinez, California, opened at John Muir’s Birthplace on 16th April and will run until 29th May. Local resident Steven Boyle, who was one of the first Rotary Club ‘ambassadors’ to visit Martinez in 1997, will display some of his own nature photographs, alongside a selection of historical photographs of both towns, produced by Dunbar and District History Society and Martinez Historical Society, commemorative objects, and messages from our sister city.

Dunbar-Martinez is East Lothian’s third oldest twinning link, dating from 1981 – but the connection between the ‘sister cities’, to use the American terminology, goes back another hundred years.  Needless to say the association is due to Dunbar’s most famous son, John Muir.

Continue reading →

A longstanding member of Friends, Steve Tossell, is organising a series of events under the heading of Dunbar Conversations. The first of these ‘conversations’ will be titled John Muir’s Way of Thinking and the panel and audience will discuss Muir’s words and deeds with a view to gaining a deeper insight into the man. This event will take place on Wednesday 20^th April at 19:30 in the Gibb Room, Dunbar Library. Tickets (free) from Dunbar Library.

Friends’ secretary Susan Panton will lead a readers’ group who will look at ‘My First Summer in the Sierra’.  It is aimed at both those who have read the book and those who are looking for an introduction. All are welcome, Friends or not.  [To book a place contact the Birthplace.] The book can be bought at John Muir’s Birthplace at £6.99 (less 10% Friends discount), borrowed from Dunbar library or available online from the Project Gutenburg Archive of books by John Muir or from www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/ or
www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/my_first_summer_in_the_sierra/